We’re in a holding pattern in our homeschool lately, just doing our thing, looking toward the end of this school year and already anticipating next school year. We’ll be starting some of our next-year stuff this summer, as I’d really like to work gradually into more of a year-round schedule. More on that as I figure it out.

There are still, as always, things I’d like to be doing but we’re not. It’s not that we don’t have time, but we lack some of the good habits we need. I’m hoping with the fresh start of a fresh year, I’ll be able to get everyone set on better schedules and habits. A lot of thought and prayer right now about exactly HOW to accomplish that.

Technology is handy: Kathryn uses the YouVersion Bible app on my iPhone to look up verses for her daily Bible study.

Lindsey has been applying for jobs at a few nearby places, and we’re hoping she’ll hear something good back soon. She needs to start making (and learning to save) money, and we’re requiring a part-time job as part of her increasing responsibilities. She’d also like to have a car one of these days, and there are not currently any fairy car-godmothers around, so a job would be handy for that sort of thing — even though we’ll be the ones driving her hither and thither for a while. For the record, even if there was a fairy godmother around, we believe earning at least a large portion of the money for a car is the best way to make sure she appreciates it!

I’ve haven’t yet shared more of the why’s and our plans for Lindsey coming back home for school after she finishes out this year of public school, mostly because I didn’t want things to change again after I wrote about them, but it’s looking like this is what we’ll be doing. So, more on that soon. I’m busy wrapping my brain around it all right now.

Holocaust Remembrance Day — or Yom HaShoah — was on Thursday, so it began the evening before, as Jewish holidays do. We attended a remembrance service at a messianic synagogue Wednesday night. Mostly this consisted of various readings from survivors of the holocaust. What those people went through (mostly Jews, but not all) is truly beyond comprehension. Let us not forget how easily evil can spring up and grow; all it takes is for people to stand idle by, refusing to speak about it, hoping it will go away.

Kathryn made this tile in the kid-friendlier version of the Holocaust service.

This week, Kathryn made a duct tape wallet for her step-brother’s birthday present. She’s also been working hard on finishing up a nifty knitted scarf because next week is her last day of enrichment classes for the year, and she needs the teacher’s help on the final steps for the scarf. We still want to learn to knit without looms, and I’m hoping to have time (and brain power) to do that over the summer.

Lacy is cute. There’s no other reason for this photo. She spends most of her day lounging in the bed because she is a lazy spoiled bum of a dog. But the greyhound in her makes her a rather regal-looking bum — and she is the smartest home educated dog I know.

I’m linking up this week with Kris’ Weekly Wrap Up and Sue’s “A Homeschool Mother’s Journal.”

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With wrapping up this week, we are two-thirds through our school year.
Time flies, friends. Truly. I think I’m getting old and sentimental.

A few instagrams from our week: Kathryn finally lost a stubborn molar; I made a crumb cake for a little homeschool moms’ get-together here at my house; and a visit from my dad, with notepad in hand (since he has lost the ability to speak).

We read about John Gutenburg this week. Although we knew he was the inventor of the printing press, we had no idea of all the struggles he went through to finally create a successful version. In reading The Story of Inventions (by Frank Bachman) this year, we’ve learned that making a living off being an inventor is hard to do, and many died poor before their idea or invention finally caught on. And anyone who has ever invented something great had to fail numerous times before he or she finally got it right. Persistence is a good thing! In a time when a daily wage was just 15 cents, a full Bible would’ve cost $150 or more — until the Gutenburg press, which brought that price down to a far more reasonable rate of about $4.  Just think what our lives would be like, for instance, if the printing press had never been invented! Kathryn and I both shuddered at the thought of not having books to read and love!

Kathryn is learning about simple machines in her LEGO class, and thanks to a timely tweet from Jolanthe, we discovered a fun interactive learning activity on EdHeads.orgs that taught us even more about simple machines! This week in LEGO’s class, the kids made a tapping machine, like the hammer in a piano. Next week, Kathryn is looking forward to building windshield wipers!

We began our Civil War lapbook, and finished reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, another Ambleside Year 5 selection, and a horizontal approach to the history of the world during the lifetime of Abraham Lincoln. This has been Kathryn’s favorite of our history readings, but we’re eager to start on the next one soon.

Yes, yes, I promised a Teaching Textbooks review. Kathryn is helping me with that, and I’ll post it early next week. Other than being tired of adding and subtracting decimals this week, she is still liking it.

Oliver Twist is still a hit. I was remembering back to high school, when I was assigned A Tale of Two Cities in high school, and I didn’t even make it through the first paragraph. It was the only time I ever used Cliffs Notes in my school career. I don’t know, looking back now, if it was really all that painful, or if I was just entirely unfamiliar with Dickensian language. Either way, I’m happy that I can now understand this sort of thing — and even better, Kathryn can, too! When we come across an extremely archaic word, we do sometimes pause to look it up on my iPhone dictionary, but mostly, we can figure things out in context, and only very rarely have to clarify something going on in the story. Yay for good literature!

Also this week, Lacy the WonderDog turned five years old! We don’t know the actual day of her birth, but we know it was in February, so we decided to call it Valentine’s Day. Though she rarely cooperates for photographs, she humored me one day this week, so I took the opportunity to capture a few shots of her attentive head tilts when she is closely listening to a person speak.

I’m telling you, the dog is a genius — and a great listener. I’ve had more than one friend completely stop mid-sentence to say, “I think your dog is listening to me.” Yes, she is. But she’s great at keeping secrets.

** I’m linking up with Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up; with Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal; and with Dawn’s Camera Phone Fridays! Come join the fun!

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Did you know that caterpillars can help with math? Kathryn thinks so!

We’re raising caterpillars into butterflies, and Kathryn is REALLY interested in them, so math went better — and less distracting — having them sit there at the table with us. (iPhone photo; forgive the quality)

That was last week; now are caterpillars are chrysalises, and we are eagerly awaiting their emergence as butterflies any day now! Love that for nature study up close and personal!

This week, Kathryn hasn’t been feeling well. I think it’s just been a cold aggravated by allergies, which aggravates asthma. But she’s been reading, reading, reading, and has Lacy the WonderDog to help her feel better between naps! Thankfully, she’s feeling pretty much back to her perky self today.

We’ve pretty much been down to basics the past couple of weeks, but we’re still getting it done. Just a few more weeks til we’re officially done with this school year, but we’ll keep doing a little math, reading, and maybe even some nature study through the summer.

This week’s historical fiction readings: Lindsey is enjoying The Captain’s Dog, about Lewis and Clark’s expedition, as much as Kathryn and I did. Kathryn is really enjoying Jip: His Story, which is about a mistreated orphan who turns out to be the child of a runaway slave.

I usually link up my weekly posts with Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, but she has been off-line since a wicked band of storms went through the South on Wednesday night. I know she lives in a town that was hit hard, so I’m sure she’s still without power, but I’m praying that her family and her home are okay. Keep her in your prayers til we hear from her, okay?

UPDATE: Kris made it to Chic-Fil-A for internet and sweet tea, and she and her family are okay. Praise God! Read her wrap-up post for more details.

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While Kris is away, I’m playing hostess for the Weekly Wrap-Up. So this is where you link up to your post about what you did this week in your homeschool — while Kris and all those other bloggy gals party the days away at the Relevant Conference! My regular self is hosting today, but my Flat Jamie self is at Relevant with Kris!

So, on with real life in our homeschool… I’ve been reminded lately that I am blessed to have options with my children’s schooling. Some families, like my newly single friend, do not have options. It’s something I am trying not to take for granted. That’s easier said than done, but being mindful of it is a start.

I feel as though we have been “running ’round like a chicken with its head cut off” lately but this week actually hasn’t been as busy as usual. Kathryn had chess class on Tuesday; Lindsey had Color Guard practice Tuesday and Thursday, plus drivers ed on Tuesday; and both girls had church activities on Wednesday night. Those are our usual “extras” each week.

In the midst of all this, Lacy the Wonderdog simply wanted her belly rubbed.

Kathryn has been doing oodles of long division, and a good deal of review in math. She says certain types of problems come around again as soon as she’s forgotten how to do them — which is why I like the way Horizons does things.

For science this week, Kathryn started a unit on insects in Christian Kids Explore Biology, and we went on a little nature walk this week to look for fall leaves. I hope to do a little art project with those leaves today or tomorrow.

Writing thank you cards for her birthday gifts provided a good opportunity for Kathryn to do handwriting practice, in addition to one page in her Italics D workbook each day. She seems to enjoy the vocabulary lessons in Wordly Wise, but she’s a word-loving girl like me. We still didn’t accomplish any composer study this week, but there’s always next week. I’m trying not to beat myself up if we don’t get something done. This week (see Monday’s gratitude post) has me really rethinking what is — and isn’t — important. And in the eternal scheme of things, grammar and composer study and lapbooks just aren’t all that important. If we get to them without causing stress, then we’ll get to them.

In history, we’re continuing to study Colonial America. So Kathryn is reading Calico Captive and Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison. She made a little colonial cookbook, with the original version of some recipes, and then a modernized version we could actually theoretically make. The state she studied in geography this week is Pennsylvania — which is funny since I just realized that’s where all the Relevant blog gals are right now!

Kathryn made a page for her Bible notebook about Joshua conquering all those cities when the Israelites moved into the promised land. At risk of sounding irreverant, I was very happy when we made it through Leviticus and Deuteronomy and moved into Joshua for our daily readings. Her Biblical character study this week was on “excellence.”

Lindsey is required to read To Kill a Mockingbird for her literature class, so I’m reading it, too. It’s been 20+ years, and I didn’t remember much of it. I was amused to find that Atticus Finch and was homeschooled.

We’ve known for quite some time that Lacy the Homeschooled WonderDog has an uncommonly great intellect; unfortunately she cannot talk or write, so her brilliance has been difficult to substantiate. This week, Ken tried to teach her to write. Alas, holding a pencil proved to be too difficult a task when one does not have opposable thumbs…

Don’t forget to link up…

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I did not post a wrap-up last week, so this’ll be a two-in-one — if I can remember what the heck we did, because I feel a little like my head isn’t screwed on quite straight right now. This was Ken’s closing week at work, which means 13+ hour days for him, and more running around for me since he usually does some of the driving to and from practices and church activities and such. We’re both glad this week is done.

Last week, Kathryn and I actually did a nature study on the signs of fall. The weather was hot again for most of this week, but next week I’m hoping to kickstart what I hope will be [almost] weekly nature studies. In biology, Kathryn has just finished up a unit on reptiles.

Kathryn uses The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide and Kids Learn America for her state geography studies and notebooking page. She still watercolors a map of the state we study each week, too.

There is no purpose for including this photo in this post. But I have a cute dog.

In history, we just finished up our study of the early explorers and made our very first lapbook (see previous post), and now we are moving on to studying colonial America. Kathryn learned about colonial tools and homes, played an interactive online game about the Jamestown colony, finished reading Blood on the River, and began reading Calico Captive.

For Bible study, Kathryn is still liking Character Traits for Kids from WinterPromise. Each week focuses on one character trait; for weeks 8 & 9, those were “Loving Service” and “Faithfulness.” Each morning, Kathryn reads a short devotion in her Real Life Devotional for Kids Bible, and we read out of the daily chronological Bible. She is suppose to make a page for her Bible notebook each week, but we’re a little behind on that right now. Lindsey is doing Wise Up: Experience the Power of Proverbs, but she’s been a little behind on that, too.

Many of our evenings look like this: Kathryn finishing up a project of some sort (in this case, her entry for the Girls in Action cookbook cover contest), and Ken helping Lindsey with her math. I am sooooo thankful that he is such a great dad and willing to devote time after his workday to helping with school!

I can’t begin to tell you how glad we are that Lindsey’s season of ColorGuard is almost over! It’s been fun, and she has loved it, but it takes up at least three evenings every week, which doesn’t leave much time for family activities. Tonight is their last regular season game, and then they’ll have playoffs next week. And then we’re done. {insert HUGE sigh of relief here}

This weekend, I have more planning to do. I planned nine weeks of school, and knew I’d need to re-evaluate after that, but my goal for the weekend is to plan nine more weeks. I’ll be eliminating a few things, and trying to figure out how to actually do some of the things we have yet to accomplish. And we need to seriously re-work Lindsey’s school-day schedule, too; she needs more structure, but I don’t want to be all dictator-ish about it, so we’ll have to figure out how to find a happy balance.

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So this was the week when my dad was in the hospital with a mystery illness. The super-frustrating part is he still has no answers, no diagnosis. I think I’m going to have to get rather insistent with someone at the hospital to tell us what is going on. They are talking about discharging him, but due to his swallowing issues, they don’t want him drinking anything; where is the logic in that??? But we did get some good news today: they have ruled out ALS (aka “Lou Gherig’s Disease”), which was pretty much the worst of the possibilities. VERY thankful for that.

But, even with hospital visits and stress, our school week went well.

Lindsey is still getting used to things at the new academy, but doing well overall. She loves composition, says Spanish is easy (since she’s had a little Spanish previously), but math is still pretty tough. We had to have a little chat earlier in the week about asking for help when she doesn’t know how to do something, rather than getting upset about it. For many years (before she joined our family), she didn’t feel like she really had help with schoolwork, and she tends to get easily overwhelmed. But I reminded her that she is not expected to know everything; that’s why we call it learning. Since then, she’s done better with asking for help and hasn’t seemed quite as overwhelmed.

Besides, she has the brilliant and curious LacyDog to help her!

Kathryn had her first chess class this week, and although she was signed up for the beginner’s class, she wasn’t completely a beginner since Ken has taught her the basics, and the teacher suggested we move her up to the intermediate class. That will work even better with our schedule and she’ll be in class with a boy she already knows.

In math, Kathryn is doing estimating, working with addition and subtraction of money, and doing some review. I like the spiral learning approach in Horizons Math, with just enough review in the lessons to stay fresh, but not so much as to get boring.

We have finished up a Christian Kids Explore Biology unit on birds, and have started on mammals. Kathryn is happy to get to mammals, because that gives her yet another excuse to remind me to take her back to see the puppies at my aunt’s house again!

Our history studies with Winter Promise this year begin with the Early Explorers and American Indians. This week, Kathryn and I watched “Part One” of the 500 Nations documentary: a totally fascinating look at native cultures including the Mayans and Aztecs. Much of the background music was Native American wood flute, which has totally inspired me to get mine out and remember how to play it — and to work on getting better at it!

Kathryn has been making some projects to include in the lapbook we’ll make for the Early Explorers study. Another suggested activity in this study was learning a bit of knot-tying, like sailors. Ken helped with that; he used to go sailing with his dad and loves this sort of thing.

We did NOT accomplish a nature study, did not start on hymn studies, and left out a few other things I would’ve like to do. But this is only our second week back to school, so we’ll get there. We did, however, make our basic Composer Study lapbook last week — our very first lapbook ever — and made another project to include in it this week. So yay for that!

Lindsey’s first Color Guard performance last Friday night was rained out. She was disappointed, but holding and spinning metal flag poles in lightning is just not a good idea. So we hope that today’s weather cooperates to let the football game and half-time performance go as planned.

Even though Lindsey didn’t get to perform last week, I did take a few photos as she went over part of her routine in our yard last Friday before she headed to the game. I love the enthusiastic expression on her face!

One of these days, we’ll have an uneventful week and that will make me soooo happy!

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