My homeschool weekly journal: July 27, 2013

In my life this week...now that we are back on the homeschool track I've got to figure out what we are going to do for curriculum for the coming school year.  I'm thinking I might do an online school for April, and possibly Aaron.  I'm taking it slow though.  I'm not going to rush, I just want to let things sink in for a while, and take the time to research all the options. 

In our homeschool this week...I have decided that for the remainder of the summer all we are going to worry about is math, reading, and a little science (nature studies, impromptu experiments) because those are the ones that need the most catching up (and we enjoy science).  We will also pursue whatever subjects interest the children.  So much of our curriculum is outdated for the each child.  They've used it all up, or grown out of it.

Aaron has taken an interest in Magic Tree house books again.  He spent quite a bit of time over the last week playing at the Magic Tree house website.   We also finished another Magic Tree House book, "Abe Lincoln at last!"

A snapshot of Aaron's tree house on-line.

 

We were able to get math time in 2 days this week.  Aric is flying through his K horizons math book.  He'll be ready for part 2 by the fall probably.  Aaron finished his first Life of Fred book!  He will be moving onto Butterflies as soon as we go pick it up from Exodus books.

Aric showing me his page that he completed

Some science from Aaron's astronomy book.  He made this sun collage, and we finally finished reading about the sun.

Aaron's sun collage

Aric's sun collage

Aric wanted to make a sun collage too.  He was way more interested in this project than Aaron.  He had fun looking through the magazines for pictures.

We received Hearts and Trees Bubbles and Lavender kit that I ordered.  April was very excited to learn about lavender and do some of the projects in it.  For our science time I had her color this page about Lavender from her Medicinal plants coloring book.  We had that book from an American Girl study last year.  I was happy to put it to use again.

April's lavender coloring page

We started some Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? activities.  We'll do a lot more next week.  As I was cleaning out our school room I discovered that I had the printables for this book and thought we should spend a week doing activities that go with the book.

Places we're going and people we are seeing...Saturday we had to cancel Aric's birthday party, so today we had a little celebration at our homeschool playgroup for him.  He was happy to play with all his friends, and they all had a good time.  We had cupcakes and gave all the kids some bubbles that were awesome (found the idea for them here).

My favorite thing this week was...feeling excited and happy about homeschooling again.

Things I'm working on... getting organized.  Reading more.  Enjoying fun summer days with my kids.  The big one is probably getting organized.  I spent a day this week getting our school room a little more in order.

I'm cooking...I made sausage and peppers rustica (like the dish you find at Olive Garden) one night this week.  It's a pretty yummy dinner!  It's one of Hubby's favorites.

I'm grateful for...my van that is fixed!  Air conditioners that make it so nice to be inside while it's super hot outside.  Great homeschool friends.  I'm thankful for cupcakes, and the joy it can bring to a 5 year old to share them with his friends.  I'm thankful for the things that have been brought to my attention that made me realize that homeschooling is where I want to be.  A Daddy takes the boys fishing as much as he can.

I'm praying for... the strength to be the homeschooling Momma I know I can be.  To not get discouraged.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

A friend of mine took our family pictures last weekend, and it was tough!  The 2 year old didn't want to cooperate at all.  The 7 year old just wanted to make funny faces, and the 5 year old was trying to smile too hard (he was so good though).  This is pretty much all she could get.  In all the pictures at least one kid was looking off or odd or something.  So, here is one of the candid ones she gave me.  It makes me laugh.  So, here you have it, our family!



To see other homeschool journal entries visit so you call yourself a homeschooler?

Desiree

Homemade edible floam

Update:  My friend Lisa that taught me how to make this has posted a recipe for this on her blog.  She explains exactly how to pop the amaranth which is very helpful.  You can find her recipe at her blog The Pratt Family.

Yes, we are back!  And, the kids won't be going off to school in the fall after all.  It's a long story that I might write about in another post...someday.  But, for now all is well, and I'm happy to say that we'll still be homeschooling.

Today we made floam.  Homemade, edible floam.  It was a lot of fun.  My Amaranth was old, so I'm not sure it really "popped" right.  The kids played with it for a while.  They took one nibble and said it tastes like their favorite cookies.  But the amaranth was too crunchy.  I've got to figure out how to cook it right.

I can't take credit for this, but it's made from peanut butter, honey, and amaranth.  I don't really know the measurements.  We just added a few big scoops of pb, and probably about a half cup of honey.  I think it needed more pb to be a bit sticker, but it seemed about right.  A good friend of mine that we knew several years ago taught me how to make this when we went over to their house to play.  It was in our first year of homeschooling.  I couldn't believe how clever she was.  I have to admit that I haven't seen this anywhere else on-line.  I don't know if she made it up, or where it came from.  But I am always thankful to her for showing me this.



Let me know if you try to make it!

 Desiree