Saturday, September 3, 2011

this week in homeschooling...

This week in homeschooling, we:
  • started a new language arts curriculum (Learning Language Arts Through Literature)
  • started our unit study on Australia
  • acquired many mosquito bites on a nature walk
  •  (mostly) kept up with our home economics classes, i.e. chores ;)
  •  looked forward to every car ride so we could hear more of "Where the Red Fern Grows" (a book on tape from our local library)  
 What I learned:
  • to let go...Reese does not like copywork and the battle is not worth it (such a hard lesson for me!)
  • mid-morning snack time is a good thing
 Where I can use some help:
  •  having activities for Ben to do when he wants attention from me and resorts to getting into mischief - I'd love some advice and wisdom from those of you who've been in those trenches before!
The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Behind the bullet points:
Our first full week back and things were going swimmingly the first four days - Ben was content to play by himself or with Luke (and NOT get into the usual mischief of dumping out buckets, tipping over chairs, climbing bookshelves) and Brie was focused, motivated and getting her work done in record time - a big change over last year. Reese was more of a challenge but I know we'll get there - I just need to do some more praying.

Friday was another matter - it was like a flashback to the end of the school year where we were all in desperate need of vacation. Brie and Reese were both resistant to doing their work and Ben was doing his best to get my attention. I'm thanking God that we have a three-day weekend ahead of us and praying that we are all refreshed and ready to tackle our work on Tuesday.

A video to share:
As part of starting our Australia unit, we listened to the Australian national anthem. I was excited to find the version of it from the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympics - for some reason, it was a highlight for me and has stuck with me these 10+ years. The anthem starts about 2+ minutes into the clip. Enjoy!

1 comment:

flmom said...

I did a big unit on Australia with my oldest a couple of years ago. He loved it so much he still talks about it! You might enjoy taking a look at a blog I read called Down to Earth. I think the link is http://www.down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ It's by a an Australian lady (she and her husband are retired). They have solar, rainwater collection tanks, grow tons of food themselves, etc. plus she has posted pics from other areas of the country.