The wheels of the bus

Homeschooling has been a bit of a challenge this year.  It just seems that we've had to deal with one storm after another... be it in our household or in our extended family... nothing has gone all that smoothly.  Looking back on all the years we've been doing this, 7 if you count Bobcat's kindergarten, this has been maybe the most tumultuous.  We've probably considered and reconsidered the direction for next year more than a dozen times, and not in a playful way... in a serious "I think we've done all that we can do from here, it's time that they learn from someone else" way!

I have my list of Why We Homeschool hanging in my computer desk, and I look at it frequently.  Sometimes I see different objectives on there and think that homeschooling at the moment is actually working against those, or that my own reaction is nothing like the Holy Family (so a massive fail on that agenda).  They fact is, we've been going through growing pains I think.  As a parent trying to navigate the road of "is he ready to do this on his own," and the child so much desiring more freedom whether he is mature enough to handle it or not.  Then you add in the additional extended family drama adding stress to Daddio and me... Yep, the perfect storm.

Who knows, maybe it is summer vacation (Praise God for our beach getaways) that seems to bring everything back into perspective.  We're on the homeschooling train, and we will have ups and downs... we knew that going in, and we've relearned that every year.  The reasons we wanted to homeschool still apply, and overall are being accomplished.  The boys have made great progress this year in areas that seemed to fall behind last year.  We're all maturing in this process, just at different rates... the long view is what is needed in times of struggle!

In just a few weeks we are headed back to the beach... 8 days of sand and surf (and beer for the grown-ups).  All will be right with the world again, and we will all be ready to face the challenges of next year!

Priceless...

I (generally) love the way Bubba answers questions... especially when it comes to school things.

Take for instance today... he had a reading comp assignment about Pope Pius XII. It went something like this:

Bubba, why did Eugene go to law school? Because he wanted to be a priest!

Um, let's read that question again!

Moving on in the assignment...

Bubba, where does the Holy Father live? Heaven!

Right... um, I'm pretty sure they asked HOLY FATHER and not God the Father!

The wheels on the bus go round and round!

I'm a survivor, at least that's the song that keeps playing in my head when things get tense... ;-)

Two weeks down... and the start of week three begins tomorrow! In all honesty things are going well, better than I expected actually. All three have taken to the new subjects/book quite well. A break out favorite has been Latin which I'm pleased about... the last thing you want to do is fight with your kids about a foreign language. Naturally we are having a few issues here and there (as usual), but there are so many more things to look forward to in our normal day that is seems be making our previous struggles much more manageable.

The only subject I've yet to get put into the schedule the right way (I have to have order or we will not survive) is the IEW. Hopefully in the next two weeks I will get that all ironed and be in the routine that works more smoothly!

First day photo!

Looking backwards...

2007 The first year all three where schooling... Snooker was finally in kindergarten!

2006 Bobcat and Bubba (with a Snooker who desperately wanted in on it)

2005 Just the Bobcat!

Day One

Well, the big day is finally here... our first school day!

Bobcat: 5th grade

Bubba: 4th grade

Snooker: 3rd grade

I honestly can't believe I have a 5th grader... I have a hard time believing that this is our 6th first day of school (for Bobcat and me that is)...

No I don't have a picture yet... I will a little later... and maybe I'll even throw a few old first day shot up here for a walk down memory lane!

Dun dun ta dun... Darth Vader's theme song!

The long awaited (for Elizabeth) list of what is on the table for this year's homeschooling extravaganza!

We'll start with the easy stuff that we've used for years now:

• Seton Handwriting
• Math U See
• CHC (Grammar) Language for Little Folks
• MCP Phonics (3rd Grade)
• Seton Phonics (4th, 5th)
• Seton Reading Comprehension (3, 4, 5)
• Seton History: The Catholic Faith Comes to the New World
• Wordly Wise (A, B, C workbooks for 3rd, Level 1 for 4th)
• Seton Vocabulary 5 (when ever they actually send it to me... silly back orders messin' everything up)

New stuff:

• Apologia Science: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day
• IEW: Institute for Excellence in Writing (Student edition A)
• Prima Latina
• Seton Art 5 (A lovely book on art appreciation covering the mysteries of the Rosary)
  

For additional materials (mostly used for the memorization exercises):

• Lingua Mater: Intermediate
• The Harp & Laurel Wreath

This will be the first year that all three boys will be covering all subjects... which is new this year. Last year Snooker didn't have vocabulary or reading comprehension... and then we've added Latin, Art Appreciation, and Writing (form and structure) to the list of subjects. Plus the history and science are much more involved than in years past... with work every day instead of just a once a week subject!

Every day that I sit down to work on polishing up my plans for the semester I'm slightly overwhelmed with the volume. This year really stepped up a notch... not only in their work, but in my involvement with more guided work and more reading for me to do out loud for all three of them (specifically history and science). It is definitely a turning point in our homeschooling journey, one that I'm anxiously looking forward to!

Also this summer started to be a turning point in my own thinking of our homeschooling and its future. Until this summer I really only took the mindset of just the up coming year, not over burdening myself with the future... a mantra of homeschoolers everywhere is take it one year at a time... and there is definitely wisdom in that... but it occurred to me that Bobcat is going into the fifth grade. Oh how close he is to those middle school years... even high school... and so a lot of my thoughts and planning took on a longer view and how the things we would be using this year would serve his intellect in years to come.

Any great epiphanies in regards to those years coming? No, just that they came so suddenly...

We still have many challenges ahead of us (MATH), but all in all I'm very pleased with how my research and the purchases panned out! I enjoyed the conference in July immensely, and it was just the kind of pep talk a homeschooling family needs before they once again begin the new school year.

Now for that all important question that is floating off of every mother's lips these days.... when are you starting (sometimes with anguish behind the eyes :-)? Next week... slowly... by the 30th we will be humming along full speed ahead! For a month that is, then we will get to spend a week in Florida... something to look forward to :-).

Can't you just feel the excitement

I love this time of year... I get all giddy, anxious, thrilled, and definitely impatient... just like a child waiting for their birthday or Christmas gifts... but it isn't my birthday or Christmas... nope it is Curriculum Ordering Extravaganza!

COE starts for me back in January. I start combing my favorite websites and catalogs for new things that they are printing and will have ready for the coming school year. I watch my mailbox like a hawk, waiting for the latest catalog to arrive filled with glossy hopes and dreams just a few short months away. I have spreadsheets from all the years of the boys schooling so that I can see what I've ordered, notes on what I like and don't like, and things from previous wish lists just waiting to make their mark on the coming year.

Then July hits... oh the fun that is the homeschooling conference arrives in town. It is sort of like a shot of adrenaline for a homeschooling parent. The day is stacked with amazing speakers, and vendors fill a room with all their goodies... You walk out of that day, renewed, recharged, and ready to tackle the new school year... if you're one of the lucky few with your curriculum money in hand... you walk out with the prize finds of the day, the new year packed away in your trunk ready for you to start planning the minute you walk through the front door. This year I had to wait a few days, but that was okay... I still had a few tough choices to make, and needed the time to iron out the details, consult a few friends and a few more websites!

Then the day came... TODAY came... I had my lists, my money, my keyboard, and off I went... like a kid in a candy store filling my treat bag with all of the things that will fill our coming days.

Now the waiting... the watching... and the listening for that wonderful brown truck to slow down and stop in front of MY HOUSE!!! Oh the joy, and anticipation... ripping open boxes, the smell of new books, bindings being cracked for the first time... oh it is truly a wonderful time of year!

#1010

Sorry the title doesn't really have anything to do with the post, but I like the number of this current post...

Anyway... DAY 137... does that mean anything to anyone? Nope? Well, at the Llama house it means the last day of regular schoo!! And that day is TODAY! YAHoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

So after today, my kiddos will be heading into 3rd, 4th and 5th (come the fall that is)... YIKES, they are getting so old!

Progress Report

In 4 weeks we will be heading out for our vacation, which makes it a great time to do a little reflection on our semester!

Day 123 of the year!

Just today Bobcat finished his last chapter in his reading comprehension book... yeah! That is his first subject he has finished for the year! He has three weeks left in spelling, handwriting, phonics and vocabulary.

Bubba has finished phonics (quite some time ago), and has three weeks left in spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and reading comp.

Snookie is done with phonics as well. He has 2 weeks of handwriting (less if he does more than one page a day), and 3 weeks of spelling!

We will be doing math, grammar & creative writing, and history through out the summer. It won't be nearly as intensive as our regular school year, but there will be things to do most days. This is mostly to keep a good routine, and to keep our little brains engaged!

I'm super impressed with how well things have gone, how well my plans worked out (or far exceed my expectations)... and I'm really looking forward to our next school year! But mostly, I CAN'T WAIT TO BE ON THAT BEACH!!!

Do you know...

who "Mr. Civil Rights" is?

I love homeschooling because it seems everyday I learn something that I had no idea about... things that were completely left out of my education... more often than not, my historical education. Take yesterday for example, Bobcat was reading from his reading comprehension book about a Mr. Alexander Pierre Tureaud (pronounced to-row). As he begins reading, Bobcat tells me that this man was born in New Orleans and was a great civil rights leader... hmmm, really? That name doesn't really ring a bell. I don't remember hearing about him in high school history... come to think of it, I don't remember hearing about him in my early history in my own home state of La. (although we did move here after 3rd grade, I can't really remember if we talked about civil rights by that point).

Now if you click on the link in the previous paragraph you will only get a small portion of this man's life. What they don't tell you was that he was a cradle Catholic, family vacations were spent traveling to important religious and historical venues of our faith, and was an officer of the Knights of Saint Peter Claver (in 1971 he received the Gold Medal from the Knights for his tireless work for equality). During a visit to Rome in 1964, he was honored with a meeting with Pope Paul VI.

As a mother of children with an African American heritage... I'm always so pleased to find wonderful men and women who exemplify our faith and are great role models to look up to!

So to answer the question... who was dubbed "Mr. Civil Rights"? A.P. Tureaud, I had no idea... but am so pleased we've finally been introduced!

A little humor for the middle of the week!

Top 10 Reasons Why Public School is better than Homeschool!

1. Most parents were educated in the under-funded public school system, therefore they are not smart enough to homeschool their children.

2. Children who receive one-on-one homeschooling will learn more than other children, giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. This is undemocratic.

3. Children need to learn to defend themselves by fighting off bullies on a daily basis.

4. Ridicule from other children is important to the socialization process.

5. Children need practice "Just Saying No" to drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

6. Fluorescent lighting may be found to have significant health benefits, along with limited exposure to the weather due to global warming.

7. Asking permission to use the bathroom teaches students their proper place in society.

8. The fashion industry depends on peer pressure that only public schools can generate.

9. Public schools are able to foster cultural literacy, passing on important traditions like the singing of "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg…"

10. Homeschooled children may not learn any ever-important office career skills, like sitting still for 8 hours straight.

90

Nope, not 90 degrees today (right now at 11:30 it is a mild 32)...

Nope, not the number of times I've banged my head against the wall already this morning (but I bet we are getting close).

Yep... the number of days of school we've had this school year!

I feel like that is a pretty cool bench mark... especially knowing that we really don't have much longer to go before we are done with the main stuff. Actually Bubba finished up his entire phonics workbook last week, and Snooker is nearly done with his as well. Bubba and Bobcat only have a handful of weeks left on their vocabulary. Snooker is nearly done with handwriting.

And for myself... well I'm in that wonderful time of starting to prepare for next year... my wishful thinking phase. While the boys toil away with math, or reading, or something... I am scouring the internet for all those wonderful things that I would just love to use next year. I'm busy building my spreadsheets of the core things we will need, making note of price changes... and having fun with things that may or may not actually make the final cut!

On that note... I headed back out into the wild blue... um, internet to find more cool stuff!

2 down - 2 to go!

Today marks the second half of our fall semester. We started the first week of September, and have logged in 37 days (including today)... okay some of you math people may be trying to figure out how we've only come up with 37 days in two months time... 4 day school week!!!

I'm fairly pleased with our school term so far. I'm a perfectionist my nature, so I always see room for improvement (on my end).

I still really like the software I'm using to track everything... it is super easy and I love having everything at the click of my mouse.

So along the path we are traveling... and we will reach Christmas before we know it!

First week wrap-up

Alright, so we are coming to the conclusion of our first week of school (we only school Mon-Thurs), and all in all I would call it a successful week.

--Snookie and Bobcat both earned perfect scores on their spelling tests... Bubba only missed one.

--Grammar seems to make better sense for everyone this year (so far).

--Snookie still HATES math.

--Everyone seems to be able to retain their bible verse, and can share it with Daddio in the evening!

--I really like my new planner software. I don't have to print things out, write things down or anything like that. I simply have the screen open and read off the page numbers for the kids, I can easily mark assignments completed, and record grades! Well worth the free download!

--Homeschooling with Bean around, not a problem. I sometimes have to step out to take care of a diaper, or put him down for a nap... but I don't know what everyone was so worried about when they warned me on how hard it was going to be... of course none of those people homeschool so how would they know anyway :-).

Day One...

So far so good. Everyone is finishing up the last of their work for today (I take the first week kind of slow to get everyone back into the groove)... ahhhhhh, feels good to be back in the swing of it.

Oh, and it is 75 degrees out... windows up and life is good!

MONDAY...

Okay people, it's time to get serious... we are starting our school year on MONDAY. I'm am super excited to get things moving. The boys need more structure in their day... they spend way to much time arguing with one another, or being frustrated for one reason or another!

Plus, I'm super excited to get moving on all the new stuff. Snooker starts grammar this year. We are adding memory work (poetry and scripture), and Latin! Bubba starts vocabulary, and Bobcat's vocabulary is more involved for him.

This weekend will be spent getting books spiral bound, making year 4 spelling word flash cards, and going over my lesson plans a few more times to make sure I didn't leave any holes where important stuff should be.

2 weeks to go!

Phew, for the most part I'm done with the major portion of my lesson plans for the fall semester! I still need to work in feast day information, make my final decision on history/bible study, and enter in my Latin and Math plan. I know it seems like a lot left to do, but honestly it really is a small portion compared to what I was able to work through this weekend.

Hopefully this week I will be able to flesh out the plans for those things that I have already (math, latin, feasts), and make a list for a few things I still need (as far as school supplies go).

I consider this a huge accomplishment considering the fact that a new baby was added to our lives without really any warning or prep time! Speaking of babies... since Bean is sweetly napping... back to planning I must go :-).

Are they trying to tell me something?

I'm starting to wonder if psychologically my boys are trying to tell me they are ready for school to get started for this term...?

We've taken to a new method of, um, redirection for lack of a better term: sentences! Do something against the rules, and you get to write sentences! Let's just say that there has be a great deal of writing this week... last week... the week before that...

Just from this week each boy had to write 10 pages of:
"I will not play in bed."

Then Bubba had to add an additional 10 pages of (which he is still working on since he's decided that he doesn't really want to do it, so he mostly just stares at the lines that aren't writing themselves):
"I will not spit on my brother's bed and lie."

And then just this morning Bobcat started 2 pages of:
"I will not take food out of the trash."
Of course this comes after he had to write a letter on Monday when he got into more trouble during his last sentence writing event... because he decided to eat a peach that was sitting on the table instead of working on his sentences.

I think they are looking for more desk time, don't you. Maybe we shouldn't wait till the 31st to start our school year!

Teach Bean to Read in 10 Easy Steps!

Homeschooling

Alright, now that we've hit #900 posts here at the barnyard (holy canoli)... let's talk shop!

Homeschooling to be exact... I, um, have this thing, um, for... organization. It is an illness that I fully admit too... and there is probably a 12 step program I should join! But I digress. Every year I go out in search of the perfect planner/organizer thing-a-majig... only to come home with something I only partially like, or completely emptied handed and in need of a strong drink. Last year I decided to just create one on my own, spreadsheet style... but to be honest it was left lacking in a way that I just couldn't put my finger on. Then comes this year. Now life is even more, um, unpredictable with a baby in house (and the situation still so far up in the air, we simply don't know what our life will look like any given week)... and again I went in search of a planner/organizer in which to run my schooling, but this time I took to the internet... Because let's face it, with a baby in tow, it is difficult to hit all the stores in one day that we could before (in a reasonable amount of time).

Anyway... this brings me to what I found... Homeschool Tracker. (Oh, first I should point out that they in no way asked me to do this, or even know that I'm writing about their product.) I downloaded the free version to see if I even liked it. So far I'm totally digging it. It is a little time consuming when entering in certain assignments that don't necessarily follow a pattern (there is a great feature that can automatically set things in a certain incremental arrangement that is super handy and fast), but this really is no different when you having to do everything by hand.

If you are looking into trying something new this year, like having things on the computer (you can make print outs as well), and like keeping detailed records... I would check it out! Heck and it is free. There is a premium version for $49, but since I don't have to submit paperwork to the state and don't need a detailed transcript for college yet... the free one is perfect for my application.