Homeschool Memoirs #12: Let’s Play A Game!

This week's theme at Homeschool Blog Awards is Let's play a game. I haven't kept up like I intended to but I will try my best to do better.





We play a few games now and then. There are times when we have a family game night. We like to play clue and monopoly. We use these as learning experiences for the older ones.





We've been thinking about trying Risk. I've heard this is a great strategy game and makes you think - kind of like chess? Which is another one I, myself, would like to learn. Of course, I don't think I could beat my husband at any strategy game - he's really good at that!





We've started playing I Spy again.... Ainsley is old enough now that she knows her colors and loves to play it whenever we go somewhere. But it always seems to be the same thing with her! "I spy something green!" And before we can answer.... "It's the trees, Mommy!" It reminds me of the scene in Finding Nemo:





"Uhh, It's orange with white stripes..."





"It's me."





"Ok. It's small and orange, white stripes...."





"It's me."





"Ok, Mr. Smarty Pants. It's...."





"Me. And let me guess, the next one, it's me...."

We also love computer games. Ainsley has started playing Jump Start Preschool and loves it! I think Santa is going to bring her a Leapster for Christmas.

Overall, we're pretty spontaneous! Not all of our games our educational. Some are just for fun! We've been know to have a rousing round of Uno or Chicken Foot with dominos!

I look forward to seeing what games others are playing!

Dana

Catching Up

As usual life gets in the way and I don't always find the time to blog. When I don't, I miss it though. Here's what we've been up to....

A little school work.... Ainsley is learning her alphabet. We try to work on one or two letters a week while reviewing previous letters at the same time. Here, she's playing the Jump Start Preschool games. She loves the computer.

A little fun time with the local homeschool group teens. As you can tell, we have mostly girls. These five have been together for the last several years through the homeschool group and Girl Scouts.

And I finally have all my kids under one roof. The three girls are, of course, still at home. The boys though are off on their own. The one of the left, K, is in the Air Force. The one on the right, Z, has a family of his own now and works hard in the local community. (This photo was taken after much struggling and complaining and elbowing and tickling!)

I hope everyone has a great week!

Weekly Chaos

Obviously I set goals that are too large for myself. I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted a blog. I think about doing it everyday, telling myself I need to post an entry. But, life always seems to get in the way. I have GREAT goals - but sometimes I just can't seem to reach them.



I've missed reading all the neat posts though that come from the Homeschool Blog Awards weekly meme. I'm going to try to do better about posting my own again, but I can't promise anything.



So anyway, here's what we've been up to.



We visited Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia last week. Our oldest daughter is considering this college in four years when she graduates our homeschool. She has plans to be in Veterinary Medicine.

Homeschool Memoirs: #5 My Favourite Things - Er - Sites!

Oh, boy, do I really need to catch up! I wasn't able to do Meme's 3 & 4 - I just didn't have time. It was all getting away from me. Now that I've rearranged my schedule and eliminated some things I have more time for other things.... so here I go.

Magazines/Carnivals - I'm not sure, don't have enough time to read these - any suggestions?

Freebie sites - Freecycle sites, donnayoung.org

Forums/book clubs - The Homeschool Lounge looks great but I can't use the features...something about my computer I guess. :(

Mom site - Menus4Moms.com

Youth/kid - nationalgeographic.com, kidsreads.com, bizkids.com

I guess I need to think a little more about my favorite things. Maybe I should get out more. At the moment my most favorite thing: rest!

This, That, and the Other

I'm trying to get through all the blogs this week on Homeschool Blog Awards. If you're not familiar with it, they host a weekly theme that you can blog about. Last week was the first week. This week's theme is Agendas (see mine below). Anyway, I just don't have the time this week to comment on everyone's blog and I apologize! I'm getting some great ideas though and some curiosity about new curriculum.

Both my older daughters are finally home and I feel complete again. They spent the whole summer with other family members in Atlanta. I'm really glad to have them home again. This photo was taken yesterday with, L, my MiniMe. She has new glasses so we were comparing... :)

We've had a whirlwind of "Moms" visit this week too. DH's mom came for a few days. Now my mom is visiting. We're having some great conversations. Besides my husband, my mom is my best friend. (Of course, you wouldn't have known that during my teenage years!)

I'll be gearing up with lesson plans this week. We start co-op classes after Labor Day - and our full schedule! I keep saying I'm ready for the school year but I haven't totally convinced myself of that yet.

Someone knocking on the door....time to go.....

Our theme this week is Homeschool Agendas. And boy, do we have an agenda! So, let's see...where do I start?

We're involved with a great homeschool co-op and many of our classes are taught through this. It REALLY helps me since I work part time for a local radio station. Through this co-op my older girls will take:

• Physical Science


• Supplemental Math


• Literature


• Geography


• Spanish


• World History

At home (and work) we'll also be doing:

• Algebra


• Writing & Grammar


• Health


• Becoming a Master Student

Needless to say, they will have a very full schedule. And that's just the academics.

I have one daughter, E, who will be volunteering on the weekends at a local animal clinic. She plans to be a vet!

My 2nd daughter, L, will be attending a Strings Program twice a week in the evenings, have private lessons sometime, and hopefully modeling/acting two, three, or four times a week.

My 3rd daughter, A, will be in ballet sometime in an available hour.

That doesn't include my husband working two full time jobs and me working part time. Of course, my employer is just GREAT! He's allowing me (and another homeschooler in the office) to create a couple of homeschool rooms in the building. The kids will come to work with me and do their schoolwork while being here with me. It's ALL good!

My goal this year is to be more organized. For the first time in 10 years of homeschooling, I'm creating a homeschool planner. I'm printing a lot of the forms from Donna Young's website - she has great forms! A lot of them I will create myself.

That's about it for me & us! I look forward to seeing more blogs this time around. I didn't get through all of them last week. I'm going to try to pace myself and get through 10-15 a day!

Jumpin' in with both feet...

....and other various body parts. Next Monday starts our brand new school year. We're like a lot of families who wait til after Labor Day to start school. Well, in this case, ON Labor Day.

I started late this year ordering my books, though. They are trickling in and I'm frantically doing all my lesson plans as I get them. I feel completely unorganized and scattered....wait...I felt that way last year, too! Does it ever get any better?

I've been creating our schedule on my Outlook at home. I've discovered that I'm a "visual" person and I have to SEE it laid out in front of me before I "get it". And, in the contest...I mean context, of being organized, each category is a different color: orange=coop, green=work, teal=hubby's work, blue=the other homeschool group activities, beige=family time. My calendar looks like a rainbow! It's so pretty, I'm dazzled. Or maybe that's just confusion....

My daughter, L, comes home on Friday from being away all summer. I'm so excited I can barely stand myself. She's my MiniMe. Everyone calls her Little Dana. Isn't that just the cutest thing? Ok, maybe not for you, but... She's the one who plays violin. I'm such a proud mama. Over the summer, she's changed her appearance dramatically - new blonde hair and glasses!

So, getting back to getting organized... I would sure like to know what others do to get their homes or school rooms organized for the new year. I've got some ideas but I love to hear what others think.

Looking forward to the Homeschool Memoirs tomorrow!