It is not this early anymore, the day is slipping by. It is sort of our Saturday, even though it is a Weds. Hubby is off. Son sleeps in. House is humming with electric devices taking care of my food, clothes and dirty dishes. Joy.
I haven’t had a lot of time to check in here. We’ve traveled a lot for surf competitions. I was lucky and picked up the Whooping Cough. That’s been fun this fall.
It’s been weird only having one teen here. Last year we had four. Odd. So the day goes pretty smoothly, actually more so than I imagined.
We are still doing Nature Studies, just not in a direct formal fashion. We have our eyes on the changing colors, the signs of fall, weather patterns, migrating birds, etc. It was fun to be thrown a West Coast Hurricane / Tropical Storm. Always good to up the weather study. On our trip to Westport my oldest son found a plant where it shouldn’t have been. He observed it for quite some time. Took photos, made me walk out to observe. It made my heart happy.
It is fall, and we’ve had our first rains. That means a lot of fishing and forest walks for mushrooms. I need to take the time to dry mushrooms, as my freezer is full. Again, with the observations, patterns, species, lining up which tree, which forest, what weather, produces which fungi. I walk behind, smiling. Or wait at home with my pan, butter, and garlic. Ha.
Jon has done really well with American History the past 5 weeks. We’ve taken a bit of a break from it to focus on a review item, Grapevine Studies. The content so far isn’t new, timeline of the Old Testament – however the focus of this study is Bible Study Resources. I am in love with Blue Letter Bible after doing studies with Doorposts. My huge shelf of massive books are now on a tiny lil app on my android phone. So my focus of this study is a review of the timeline, in order – and a way to really teach the boys how to use BLB. Nate has been home a couple of days for the studies. It is interesting to see the different answers from them, older, younger. Mama smiles.
This past week I was able to jump into a Webinar from IEW for Fix It Grammar. One of the points that we haven’t used specifically is cutting out the cards and using them on a daily basis. Last year was such a simple introduction/recap, that week by week we didn’t need the cards. Now, on the second book – in the 6th week, I wanted to take her advice and use the cards day by day. I can see that it makes the program so much more full. Really focusing on what we are underlining. I see on week 8 we take another big step. She reviewed 3/4 and 5/6 with the webinar. I can see how having this book 2 be cemented in the foundation is critical to success later. Let this become second hand, before moving to book 4/5. I do intend on doing all six books with Jon. I really wish they had been available or on my radar with Nate.
I am loving the Illustrated Faith thread on Facebook and Instagram. Above is the simplest of pages done. If I hear a scripture, read one, etc – I’ll go and write it out, decorate it, paint it up. Sometimes, like above, just write it out. This is my ‘scrapbook Bible’. It is only for decorating scriptures. A new hobby.
Algebra 1 has been a JOY. Did I just write that? What? Going through Zeta and Pre Algebra set us up for an amazing year so far with Algebra 1. Only trouble is – the first disk – that we never used with Nate, didn’t work. I have been putting it off for a few weeks, and finally contacted Math U See. Guess what? Ship it back with a $5.00 check, and they will mail me a new own. WOO HOO! So yesterday it went in the mail. That has been the only frustrating part, only seeing parts of each week’s videos before the disk freezes. Great Company!
The evening view from my chair at home. Evenings come and I am exhausted. Trying to do 9th grade, be a part of my son’s college schedule this year, both boys are working, hubby is working hard at getting a retail store ready for the season ahead, whooping cough, surf comps, and tons of sports – I’m done when the sun goes down. Great full amazing days.
I continue to be thankful for the freedom we have with learning at home. We’re enjoying other subjects also, these were just the ones on the table this morning. We have time to breathe. Time to dig deep. Time to change our minds. Especially with Nate off and running – I want to enjoy every day of the next four years with Jon!
Filed under: Some Schooling