Where oh Where have we been???

We've been prodding along...doing school. Is it possible to have burn out in August? I am so feeling that way. I do believe I've been putting too many irons in the fire so maybe that is why I am feeling so run down.

We have been very busy with our school days. We've kind of gotten into a bit of a rhythm with school so that part has been good. Our schedule looks like this on most days:

Get up (about 9 or so)
Breakfast
Get dressed and brush teeth (hopefully we don't zoom by this one)
Get our Work boxes and schedule strips out:
Scedule strip: 10 Min of quiet bible reading time
Scripture memory work (Charlotte Mason Style) and working on memorizing the books of the Bible. We do this together.
Start on File folder 1 (Normally Calender work-Christian Light Education-Each month we work on a different aspect of the weather. This month we are working on the 3 basic types of clouds in thy sky and recording them each day.
File Folder 2- Reading-CLE
Piano
File Folder 3- Language Arts workbooks (spelling, writing, phonics rules...ect...)
File Folder 4- Math workbooks, flashcards, speed drills
Typing
Snack
Writing (Hannah is using Writing Strands 3 (alternating with) Aeosp's fable's Rewrites. This has been interesting. Mikayla is still using Writing with Ease. I really like it and am concidering swtiching Hannah back to it.
Lunch
Break/chores (cleaning out the dishwasher)
Reading History 10 min
File Folder Game
Reading A child geography of the world (Earth Science) for about 10 min
Quiet Time Reading - 30 min

Clean up then free time.
Done by usually 3 or so...where does the day go...I guess we slept most of it away...but I LOVE not having to wake them up! They are rested and ungrumpy!

We are finishing up our last chapter in the geography book that we've been working on all summer. This last part has been about latitude and longitude....it has great explainations of it all.

We are soon to start Galloping the Globe back and Astronomy as well.

WE will be meeting weekly for co-ops with Astronomy, Art Appreciation, ASL, and Piano.
We are also in 2 other co-ops that meet monthly- American History and PE.

Busy...busy girls are we! Hannah and I started a 4-H sewing class too. This is once a month. We stay so very busy. The girls and Chad have been taking karate...we are so proud of them. They've been working hard to learn all the moves.

Mikayla's Totebag she made

Hannah's Totebag she made at Aerybeth's Sewing Camp!

The girls at camp showing off their totebags they made!

The girls at Sewing Camp

Hannah and Mrs. Cristy the first day of sewing camp!

Mikayla and Mrs. Cristy working on the tote bag!


Hannah and Mrs. Cristy working on her tote bag.


The group taking the sewing camp this week!

The girls had so much fun at sewing camp today! They will be going until Thursday. Today they made a pin cushion, and started a tote bag. I am so excited they are learning about the sewing machine and learning how to sew! I hope it will give them a lifetime of creativity!

Another week of summer homeschool

We've done much better this week about getting our work accomplished. Still working on the light side, we've been doing Lang Arts, Math, Geography and Quiet Reading one day and then alternating, Reading, Geography, and Quiet Reading on the other day. We do a little bit of copy work and a "postcard" every week with the geography curriculum that we are using.

This week we studied the water cycle and why and hows of the seasons.

This Friday for our co-op we did an activity mimicking the salt water in the ocean and the sun heating it up (evaporation), then condensation forming, followed by precipitation and collection of water in one of our bodies of water. It also showed why we can't drink the ocean water (because of the high salt concentration).

The girls watched short movies on Brainpop about the water cycle and the seasons and made a book about the water cycle and filled in a Fill in the Blank on the seasons. We add these activities to our Science notebooks every week.



Water Cycle Activity


Coloring our Water cycle books.

Hannah finished reading Socks this week. You can tell she really liked it because she has made reference to it many times this week. Mikayla has been reading various Dr. Suess books.

We are making slow but steady progress on our Bible Bee verses...but I am sure we won't be ready in time come Sept.

Autumn has been enjoying our new cat- Cupcake.

Cupcake has the sweetest disposition. She is a stray cat that has already been de-clawed. We are growing to love her!!!

Autumn and Cupcake

A Child's Geography-Co-op Day-Hydrosphere Study

"In the hollow of His hand...."





Practicing Longitude and Latitude


Hannah's fist are acting as the moon- pulling the ocean towards it like a magnet-making high tide. (This happens twice a day.)


Paula demonstrating how the moon pulls the water towards itself to create the high tides.



Friday is our co-op day to do activities that coordinate with the chapter we read for the week. This week we read about Oceans, Currents, Gyres, the Coriolis effect, evaporation, gravity and the oceans tides.

We studied this all under the understanding that- "He has measured the waters in the hollows of His hand." Isa 40:12. Each part of our hydrosphere just like every other layer of our earth has been carefully and thoughtfully crafted by our God and Creator. How awesome to think about the intricate detail of each thing He has made!

The Girls had their ears pierced today.

I can't believe it but right now...all my girls have their ear's pierced. We were so fortunate to have our pediatrician prescribe us numbing creaming for their ears before they went. The only trouble I had was out of Hannah (just being scared of the whole process..) Once I finally got the Mommy voice out..."YOU ARE GOING TO DO THIS"-After she'd been telling me she wanted to...she settled down and let them do it. I asked her after..."Did it hurt?" She said, "No, I was just scared." That's my girl...she is me all over...

Mikayla barely blinked...neither did Autumn. She was just aggrivated that the lady had to clean her ears.

IT was an interesting day for sure!

Its Tough to school this summer!

There is so much going on and we've been so busy...school is getting harder and harder to do this summer.

I am pleased to say that Chad finished reading Mr. Popper's Penguins to the girls and Hannah has finished reading Betsy and Tacy and is on to reading Socks. So, it isn't so much a wash....just the standard school schedule is pretty hard to keep.

Tennis camp and traveling have been our 2 major interruptors...but we have tried to keep somethings steady.

We have been marching forward with our geography study...reading this about 3 times a week and having co-op on Fridays (not every Friday) but when there is a good activity to reinforce what we've learned.

Hannah and I have been busy working on her new business-making bubble magnets. I have set her up a store and have her started on keeping records, so that has for sure been a learning experience.

So school is going....just not the traditional way!

Check out her store if you care to-