The homeschool Mother's journal: in between

 

In my life this week...Two trips to Portland about sums up this week.  I sold and bought something on craigslist, so that meant driving.  Although I technically didn't need to drive up for the thing I sold, I offered to so I could go to Portland and run some errands.  Little did I know that I'd be going up again the next day to buy a dump truck so Alex could have a matching one like his brothers.

In our homeschool this week...I had a good math session with April.  I was getting a little worried that she wasn't really grasping the pre-algebra stuff like I thought she was.  I was afraid we might have jumped too far in the Singapore math by starting with book 6A, but I think she'll do fine now.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...I recently decided to bring back some things that I quit for a while because they weren't working like calendar time, and work boxes.  Although I've modified both, I have brought them back.  So, here's my advice, don't be afraid to "shelf" something for a while if it's not working.  Sometimes it's good to take a step back from something and then you can see it really does work, or maybe there's a way you can work it differently.

I am inspired by...my garden.  I have really discovered the meaning of the joy of gardening this spring.  It's amazing what can happen when I put forth the effort to help things grow and make our yard beautiful.  I'm also learning what I can do better, and that is inspiring me to be a better gardener.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...went camping for Memorial day weekend.  We walked to the library this week.  We went to Ikea, and that's always fun.  Got another set of "work boxes".  We went to Costco, and McDonald's.  We also went to Bauman farms and got some fresh strawberries, yum!  Saw a chicken with her baby chicks there.  Today we go to the park and have some friends over to play.  Then we get ready for camping again. 

My favorite thing this week was...watching my Husband fold up our old metal swing set like a pocket knife.  It was all rusty and had some jagged edges, it needed to go to the dump.  I thought he would just take it apart.  Nope, he had a better plan.  I couldn't believe that he just bent the legs together, and then folded them in!  The kids were pretty amazed.  I told the kids that their dad must be a "super dad" with amazing strength.  So long old swing set, we're making room for a pool!

Questions/thoughts I have...I am still trying to figure out how to do read-alouds with such a big age range, so my question is this how do you do read aloud time?  Do you have everyone join?  What if you read a slightly younger book for the littles, but your older one may not be interested, do you let them go read on their own?  This is something I am still trying to figure out.  Also, what do you say when there is one that's not interested in the book being read?

Things I'm working on...Getting ready for camping again.  We just went, but we have back to back weekends, so I have to pack up the trailer again on Friday and Saturday.

I'm reading...I almost finished Fablehaven during our camping trip.  It's a light, fun read.  My hubby wants me to read "Me, myself, and Bob: A true story about God, Dreams, and talking vegetables," so I might start that soon.  We are big Veggie Tales fans here so this book looks interesting, but it may be a bit heavy for me.  We'll see.

I'm cooking...less now that we are home from camping.  I realized this last camping trip that I cook way more while camping.  Why is that?  We ate almost no cereal, and I had yummy food for each meal.  Must be the combination more people, more help, less busy life going on, and we eat a lot more while camping.  I wish I could be as good while at home. 

I'm grateful for...another camping trip in just a few days.  I really love getting away with my family.  I'm also thankful that this one will be really close to home.

A photo to share...This one is silly, but I like it.  April's American girl showing us our strawberry garden.  April took this picture.  Apparently she was having fun taking her doll's picture in various places.

How was your week? To see other Homeschool journal's visit iHomeschool network.
Desiree