My first homeschool convention....

I'm back, finally.  I know I keep saying I'm going to get better about posting, but I think we all realize by now that consistency is not my forte.  I will finish up the second part of my post about what curriculum I'm using next year, but first....

I went to my very first homeschool convention a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't go to all the seminars, I just went to the curriculum fair part.  I have never seen so much homeschool curriculum in one place in my entire life!  It was slightly overwhelming at first, but I'm so glad I went!  It was definitely worth the cost to get in.  After leaving, I had totally made up my mind about all the curriculum I'm using next year, and purchased some of it!  Yay!  It was so helpful.

In my previous post, I was undecided on arithmetic.  I have finally made the decision (and purchased) arithmetic for all three kiddos.  Motormouth is starting Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra 2.0.  I had been concerned, because I had heard quite a few people say that it was a little behind grade level.  I got over that though, because I decided to get past the title on the book I ordered, and just order what level he tested at.  You would think, after being at this for 6 years, that I would have gotten over the public school mindset of "grade level".  I think I'm finally there!  When looking at the table of contents for the level 7, there were no concepts introduced that he wasn't familiar with until 3/4 of the way through the book.  I spoke with a Sonlight curriculum advisor (If you haven't ever utilized one of their curriculum advisers, I highly recommend it.  They are incredibly helpful, and super nice.  I have nothing but great things to say about Sonlight's customer service.), and she told me that the first part of TT Pre-Algebra 2.0 is a review of TT level 7.  Motormouth has already started using it, and is LOVING it.  He no longer gripes every time I mention math. Saxon was great, and very thorough, but I'm just not all that good at teaching math, and TT basically teaches it for you.  I had thought about making him wait to use it until the beginning of the next school year, but then decided it seemed crazy to make him finish out the year of Saxon if he wasn't getting what he needed to out of it.  I figure if he finishes up early next year, we'll just spend the rest of the year reviewing the concepts to make sure he has a firm grasp of it before moving on!

The Tweebs are using Life of Fred.  We're beginning with the first book, Apples, right now.  After I returned home from the curriculum fair, I took a better look through the book.  (I purchased it, and the 2nd book, Butterflies, at the fair.)  It seemed to cover some concepts we have already discussed, so I decided to start it now, and then supplement it with our Abeka worksheets.  The LOF books are only $16, so I figure I'll just buy them as I need them.  I may switch them to TT in 3rd grade (which is the first grade level offered by TT), but for now I don't really want them using a computer curriculum.  I can teach math at this level just fine, and I don't think they are really mature enough to work that independently yet.

For History, we are sticking with Mystery of History, because we LOVE it.  Next year we will start Volume II: The Early Church and the Middle Ages.  I love reading about the middle ages, and the kids do as well, so we're all excited to start that.

Lastly is Science.  We love Apologia.  We will continue in the Young Explorers series, with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  This time I bought notebooking journals for all three kids.  The Tweebs have really wanted one, and I think the Junior Notebooking Journal will be perfect for them next year.

I think that covers everything!  I'm so happy to have it all decided on and purchased this early.  It's one less thing to worry about now.

This is all I have time for tonight, because I have to do some lesson planning.  (the one downside of no longer using "curriculum in a box"...ugh.)

Be back soon!

Decisions, decisions...

Good grief, this year has flown by so far.  I can't believe it's April 2nd already.  Our school year is nearly over (although we will be going a little longer this year due to our long, hard winter), and it's time to start thinking about next year's plan.  As you know from previous posts, we're changing up our way of doing things in our home school.  Because of all the unexpected things that happened over the winter, we didn't transition as smoothly as I had hoped.  That's why I would like to have a really good plan in place for when we begin after the summer.

We will continue with our plan for classical learning.  I really feel like that just "fits" our family.  We are all incredibly interested in history, literature and science.  We also feel like what we had been doing before made us feel crazy and rushed, and that we never actually were able to deeply dive into our interests.  I want us to really embrace the goal of classical learning....the "multum non multa", not quantity, but quality.  To pursue the Good, the True and the Beautiful.  How do I plan to implement this?  Let's be honest here, as much as I would like to say I truly implemented these things this year, it just didn't happen like planned.  We learned, but it didn't flow like I want it to.  I want my kids to find what truly interests and inspires them to life long learning.  I want, I want, I want.  Hmmm.....so, now to make it happen!

First of all, here is a list of what I have already decided on:
     Writing:
          Motormouth-Institute for Excellence in Writing, Student Writing Intensive, Level B.  I have never used IEW, but have heard nothing but good things about it.  Motormouth's toughest subject, by far, is writing.  Not handwriting, but creative writing.  This mom is NOT a writing teacher, so he's really struggled.  After lots of research, and having him check out some YouTube videos on IEW, we decided to check it out.  I'm very hopeful that it helps him really get the knack of writing well.  I opted to go with the SWI only, and not the more expensive Teaching Writing With Structure and Style.  TWSS is a 10 hour DVD seminar for parents, to teach them how to teach writing.  It's pretty pricey though, and SWI comes with a DVD that gives an overview of the program, so I'm hoping we can get by with just that.  We shall see.  Since he's really not loving the Classical Writing curriculum we have at the moment, I'm thinking about just diving right into SWI when it shows up this week.  This should take care of writing, grammar, spelling and handwriting.  I will supplement spelling and vocabulary to go along with our history, literature and science selections.

          Tweebs-I'm opting to piece together my own writing curriculum for the Tweebs.  I have purchased the Parent Teacher Guide for the Original McGuffey Readers, along with the Original McGuffey's Pictorial Eclectic Primer, the Original McGuffey's Eclectic Primer and the Original McGuffey's Eclectic First Reader.  I plan on doing most of their reading, copy work and spelling lessons out of these texts, along with some added reading in Aesop and other beginning literature that will go along with our history and science studies.

     Literature:
          Ahh...my FAVORITE subject!  I do not have anything set in stone yet, but I plan on having the kids focus on many of the classics, and am going to choose which ones based on the period of history we are studying and their reading/comprehension level.  Motormouth read The Hobbit this year, and I am considering having him read The Lord of the Rings next year.  I am going to re-read it over the next month and then decide.  He's a pretty advanced reader, but it's a pretty complicated read, and I want to look it over again to see if I think he can really get something out of it.  I want his literature selections to challenge him, but not so much that he isn't understanding or enjoying them.  If I do end up having him read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, that will take up a good chunk of the year for his Literature work. As for the Tweebs, I'm going to, as I stated above, have them work in the McGuffey's readers, but that will be more for the "mechanics" of reading.  For their Literature studies, I plan on them reading the Aesop fables, along with other selections I have not yet determined.  We shall see....the library is a wonderful resource that I plan on fully utilizing next school year!

     Arithmetic:  A.K.A...the bane of my existence.  I am NOT a math person.  At all.  So, my choices for the kids have to take into account their learning style, along with the fact that I am not a good math teacher.  I can handle the Tweebs, but the older Motormouth gets, the more nervous I get.  I don't yet have any math curriculum picked out for the Tweebs or Motormouth.  I am considering Teaching Textbooks for Motormouth.  I have heard quite a lot of good things about it.  One downside that I have heard is that it is not quite "grade level".  That can be easily taken care of though, by using the placement tests. I'm still back and forth on what to do for the Tweebs.  We'll see....

I just realized how incredibly long and rambling this post is...that probably has something to do with the fact that I am taking cough medicine and it is currently 1:30am.  So, that said, I am going to go for now, and hopefully finish up the second half of this post tomorrow.  I hope I didn't bore you to tears.  Once I get all this junk out of the way, I will post some funny, crazy things my kids have said/done.

Until next time...


   

A fresh start...

It's been a rough couple of months.  In my last post, I shared that we had lost my uncle and my husband's grandfather, and that my aunt had a stroke.  My aunt passed away a week after suffering the stroke.  I've been doing good just to get through the days, which is why it has taken me this long to post again.  I'm trying to get things back to "normal" around here though, because we have been out of our routine for so long.  So I'm also going to try to get back to blogging on a more regular basis.  We'll see how that goes.

The losses in my family, coupled with the start of a new year, really make me put into perspective what's important, and what I need to do to make this year one I can look back on without regret.  I've seen all too closely lately how fleeting life is, and that I should make every day count.  So, without further adieu, here is a list of things I'm going to try to do better about this year.  (Note: these aren't new year's resolutions, because I know that I will fail at times, but I am going to TRY my hardest.)

     1.  Pray EVERY DAY, more than one time a day.
     2.  Read and study my Bible every day.
     3.  Never miss an opportunity to tell my loved ones how much they mean to me.
     4.  Share God's word with others more often. 
     5.  Be bold about my faith in God.
     6.  Be a better Christian example for my kids.
     7.  Yell less.  Try to get my point across to my kids without resorting to a harsh voice.
     8.  Have a meek and quiet spirit in all things, especially my job as a mother to my kids and a wife.
     9.  Be more patient as a mother and teacher. 
    10. Praise God at all times.  When He blesses me, AND when times seem so dark.
    11. Read the Bible through in a year. 
    12. Excersise more....eat better.
    13. Glorify God in everything I say and do.
    14. Be a better friend.
    15. Reach out to those who need support.

The list could go on and on, but these things are some pretty major ones.  I pray that I do better in all these areas.

Since the loss of my uncle on November 6th, we have had quite a lot of break time in our school schedule.  We are behind enough now that we will probably be schooling a good part of June, which isn't usual for us.  That's one of the many benefits of homeschooling though...we can go with the flow when need be.  We needed time to grieve and be with our family.  However, now that the holidays are over, and the new year has begun, we must get back to work.  We start up again tomorrow.  I know that I am going to hear lots of groaning and crying, because we're out of the habit of school every day, but I really do think that after a few days, everyone will be back to normal.  We are definitely in need of structure again.  As much as the kids like to be off of school, I think even they will be glad for things to be trucking along again.

So, this wasn't an especially funny or witty post, but it kind of wraps up 2012, and lays out a plan for 2013.  So, here's to 2013.....may it be the best year yet. 

I'm going to end my post with an old Irish blessing....I hope your 2013 is a blessed year.

 

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.



I didn't fall off the face of the earth, really!

This is going to be a super short post, but I just didn't want everyone thinking I had, once again, not followed through with keeping up with the blog.

In the past few weeks we have lost two members of our family.  My uncle, who was very dear to me, and my husband's grandfather.  The day after we lost his grandfather, my aunt suffered a catastrophic stroke.  It has been a really tough month around here.  I honestly don't know when I am going to get back to the blog, because right now I'm barely managing to get daily stuff that has to be done taken care of.  But I have not forgotten it, and when I can pull myself together, I plan to be back!

Thanks!  Take care and have a wonderful holiday. 

Our day, in a nutshell...

     UPDATED:  SEE END OF POST FOR AN UPDATE ON HISTORY CURRICULUM.

     Okay, this is actually what an ideal day looks like.  Ideal days very seldom happen around here, but this is what we shoot for.  We all have to have a goal, even if we fail miserably most times.  I would list precise starting times for each subject, but honestly, the idea of us actually starting and finishing when we plan is pretty laughable.  So I will just list them in the order we try to do them.

     After we get up, we have breakfast and do our Bible reading together.  The curriculum we use for Bible class on Sunday and Wednesday has daily Bible readings, so we follow that.  

     Next, we will usually move on to math.  The Tweebs use Abeka Arithmetic 1.  We like it okay, but it has a lot of repetition and busy work.  I'm thinking next year I will either move them to Saxon or Singapore.  Motormouth is using Saxon 6/5.  We aim for one lesson per day.  Motormouth will spend more time on math than the Tweebs.  Their attention span just isn't as long.

     Then I will move on to phonics and reading with the Tweebs, and two days a week, spelling.  I also use Abeka for those subjects.  Once again, next year we will be changing that.  While I am working with them, I have Motormouth do his Literature reading.  He has been working through the Mabinogion.  Once he finished that I will be changing it up a little, because we're going a little different route with history than originally planned.  

     Speaking of history, that's next.  A couple of days a week we work on history, and the other days science.  History and science are both subjects that all three kids work on together, just at different levels.  I had started working through A Child's History of the World with the Tweebs, and Famous Men of the Middle Ages with Motormouth, at the suggestion of The Latin-Centered Curriculum.  I like both books, but I'm going to use them at a different time.  After reading through The Well-Trained Mind, I decided on a little different approach.  If we work through a four year rotation of history, starting with the Ancients and ending with modern times, that means that this year, with the Tweebs in 1st grade, they will be starting the Ancients. Motormouth is in 5th grade, meaning it's time for him to study the Ancients again....just more in depth.  See why I like this plan?  I can teach the same era of history to all the kids, instead of trying to teach the Ancients to the Tweebs, and the Middle Ages to Motormouth.  Much easier to keep straight in my head.  Starting tomorrow, we will begin working through The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times.  There is also map work included in SOTW, so that will take care of geography.  Also, Motormouth is participating in the National Geographic Bee, so he has a two hour prep class once a week for that.  

     On the alternate days that we don't have history, we will be doing science.  We've been working through Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Human Anatomy and Physiology.  We all love it, and it works great because Motormouth uses the Apologia notebooking journal, and I have the Tweebs doing narration and drawings of what they've learned in binders I put together for them.  Human anatomy is a great study to go along with the Ancients.  We are really pleased with Apologia, and will continue to use it next year.  

     Once all of that is completed, the Tweebs day is pretty much done.  I have been using Ambleside Online for art study, and I will some days have them color a copy of a painting while I finish working with Motormouth.  The last picture they worked on was Starry Night by Van Gogh.  They loved it, and it gave them some culture.  

     Now that the Tweebs have finished their day, I have time to complete the rest of Motormouth's subjects with him.  Composition, grammar and Latin require a little more participation by me than the other subjects.  

     For composition, grammar, spelling and language, we use Classical Writing.  We've started with the second half of Aesop.  Technically at his age we could have begun with Homer, but since this is all a little different than we're used to, I decided not to feel rushed.  I purchased the student workbook B that goes along with Aesop.  It makes my life easier to already have things planned out.  This is a subject we do every day.  

     We use Prima Latina for Latin.  Technically this is for a little younger student, but since this is our first experience with Latin, I decided to start from the beginning, regardless of the grade level.  We'll just work through it quickly and then move on to Latina Christiana 1.  Since we are trying to follow a Latin centered, classical style of schooling, Latin is also taught daily.  The Tweebs are still trying to get a solid grasp on phonics, so they will not be starting Latin until 3rd grade.  

      I also throw some memory work in there during the day sometime, to go along with Latin, Bible, history and science.  Every other week we have Art at a friend's house, and the other weeks we have PE with the same friends at our house.  Also, we have a nature class at my cousin's house every other Tuesday.

     Whew!  It makes me tired just typing all of this.  I am blessed to be able to teach my children at home though, so it's all worth it.

      Like I said in the beginning of my post, this is what we TRY to accomplish on a daily basis.  That doesn't mean it always works out that way.  That's the beauty of homeschooling....flexibility.

     Well, that's all for now...have a great day!

UPDATE ON HISTORY:  After really looking at Story of the World, Volume 1, I have decided to return it.  I didn't at all like how Bible events were written....too much poetic license.  Also, there were some minor discrepancies in some other parts that I just didn't want to mess with correcting.  I have enough going on in my day to have to be correcting tons of stuff in the curriculum I buy!  So, after MUCH research (my head hurts), I have decided to order Mystery of History, Volume 1.  We'll see how it goes.  After all the change we've done lately, we've got to get started with something, so I think we'll use it even if we hate it!  (Just kidding.) 

     

Overcoming anxiety...

     No, the title of my post does not mean that I have overcome my anxiety, so if you were hoping to find some wellspring of knowledge on how to do that, keep on movin'.  It does, however, mean that I am working on it. I'm hoping that, with the Lord's help, I can make some steady progress in this endeavor.

     Let's face it, guys.  Becoming a parent is SCARY.  Having these little human beings that you are responsible for molding into productive big human beings could make even the most level-headed of us a little cuckoo.   And as we all know, I am NOT the most level-headed of us, so there you go.  I'm going to be  totally open and honest about how anxiety affects my life, not because I just love the idea of everyone knowing what a nut I really, truly am, but because-just maybe-by sharing my fears, someone else will think, "Hey, I've felt that way, too....I'm not all alone in this!".  So you can see the whole big picture of crazy ol' me, let's back up a little, shall we?

     Once upon a time, there was this boy, and this girl.  They were in love, so they got married.  Fast forward 2 years down the road.  Boy and girl decide that their little duo isn't quite complete, and they want to make it a trio.  Girl gets pregnant, but alas, God decides that, for whatever reason, now is not quite the time for the boy and girl to become parents.  So they keep trying, and after 3 years of marriage, they bring a beautiful baby boy into the world.  Life is great....they love their little family of three.  The girl quits working, and gets to be a stay at home mommy to this super awesome little guy.  (THANK YOU Mr. Fantastic, for all the hard work you do so that this is possible.  Seriously guys, he's pretty fabulous.)  Things are rocking along pretty good, but this trio really wants to spread the love and add a fourth to the party.  So the little guy (if you haven't guessed it by now, that's Motormouth.) prays every night for God to bless his family with a brother and a sister.  No matter how much his parents correct that to "a brother OR a sister", he persists.

     Just when the boy and girl are beginning to think their plans to have another baby aren't really meshing with God's plan for their life, they find out that they're absolutely right about that hunch.  Oh, the girl gets pregnant again, alright.  When she goes in to make sure everything is a-ok with the little peanut, she finds out that GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.  And this includes the prayers of a certain 3 year old boy who prayed every night for a brother AND a sister.  Enter the Tweebs into the picture.

     So, just to make sure everyone is with me, here's a summary:
         1. Boy and Girl get married.
         2. 3 years later, baby #1 arrives.
         3. 3 1/2 years after THAT babies #2 and #3 arrive. (7 weeks early, it turned out.  Thanks to God's loving care for our children, everyone was healthy.  Well, healthy-ish.  They did have to stay in the hospital for a month, but you wouldn't know it looking at either one of them now!)
       
     So, here we are (I'm dispensing with referring to us as "boy and girl", because I think you've surely figured out that this is MY story by now.), with our little, teeny house (not that I'm hating on the little house...we had some great years there.  But one 9x10 bedroom for 3 kids is pretty tight, especially when two of them aren't sleeping through the night yet.) bursting at the seams.  So we decide to take the plunge and build a house.  We move in on my 26th birthday....the day before the Tweebs 1st birthday!  And two weeks before Motormouth's 5th birthday.  Which means we need to start thinking about school.  After much discussion and prayer, we decide that homeschooling is what is best for our family.

     Almost 8 years after the beginning of our story, this is the situation:  a new house, a 5 year old, TWO 1 year olds, and getting ready to start homeschooling Motormouth for kindergarten!  Wow!  Enter the anxiety. Well, scratch that....add some anxiety.  Obviously, when you have children, you worry some about their safety, and I doing this or that right.....that sort of thing.

     I, however, in all my obsessive-compulsive glory, started to worry about EVERYTHING.  I would worry about school, worry about the house (well, worry about how the house looked, because I hadn't worried about the housework....), worry about the kids' safety, my own safety, if the world was going to end.........okay, that last one was a bit of an exaggeration, but honestly, not by much.

     Fast forward to today.  I have a 5th grader and two 1st graders.  We survived our first year of homeschooling, but I was stressed.  That stress and anxiety has built up over the years.  Which brings me to my current situation.  I don't want to be anxious anymore.  I shouldn't be this anxious, because I need to have faith that God will see me through whatever comes my way.  I have these three amazing blessings that God has given me the privilege to call my own.  Whatever anxiety I have is mine....I need to own it.  I want to make it clear that I don't blame my kids for my anxiety.....just my grey hair.  ;)  Seriously though, they don't cause the anxiety, but I've figured out what does, and how I'm going to work on fixing it.    Here's my plan:

     1.  PRAY OFTEN.  This is something that, in the busy life I lead, I neglect far to much.  And I ask the Lord to forgive me for that.  I'm going to try to remember that in the hectic times, when I feel like I can't do it, I need to stop and ask God to carry me through, because He WILL.

     2.  GET ORGANIZED.  If you know me AT ALL, you know that organization and housework are the bane of my existence.  There you go, Mr. Fantastic, I said it!  Right out there for all the people on the Internet to see!  I think that if I would get myself organized, I would feel so much less anxiety, because my space would be calm and relaxed.  It will also help my children learn better, and it is my job to do whatever I can to make their experience positive.  Plus, they need this example from me, otherwise they will not be ordered in their own lives.

     3.  SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.  One thing I fail to remember far too often is that any struggle or question I have in my life can be answered simply by opening up God's word.  Again, as with prayer, study has been neglected much in my life, and I ask the Lord's forgiveness for that, too.  Study and prayer are things my kids need to see me doing, because they learn by my example.  No matter what I manage to teach them in our schooling, if I fail in this area of teaching...the teaching of how to live a Christian life, then I have failed in everything, because this is the MOST important.

     4.  SIMPLIFY.  I started working on this a few weeks ago, with our big curriculum change.  While we are still working out a few kinks, all in all I think this is going really well.  I'll post about our schedule on a different day, when I'm not posting a super ramble like today.

     5.  SLOW DOWN.  I'm going to slow down, and enjoy every second of every day with my children, because I really do feel that, no matter how many stressful or even downright BAD days we have, I have THE best job in the world.  I get to hang out all day long with the coolest kids on the planet.  How much better does it get?  One of these days I will look back and see that the time has gone by so fast.  I do not want to live with regrets and "what ifs".  Home educating gives us such a fantastic opportunity to really have quality time getting to know our kids, and to enjoy them.  I don't want to take that for granted any more.




     So, by now you're either extremely bored, or running for the hills.  I am going to call it a night.  Please though, if you would, take a minute and say a prayer for me, and for all the other moms and dads that are in this season of their lives, whether they are choosing to home educate or not, because it's a big, important job to raise our kids, and we could all use a little help now and then.  I will leave you with two last thoughts.....

 ^{"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7}

 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward..."  Psalm 127:3

So it begins...

     It's done.  Our Sonlight is all packed up and ready to be shipped back.  EEK!  While it's incredibly scary, it's also SO exciting!  It's kind of freeing to break out of that box and pick and choose exactly what I think is going to work for each of my kids as individuals, as opposed to trying to shove all of them all into the same box, whether it fits or not.  

     We've only been doing the "classical" (which is in quotes because, a. I am planning on making our school and curriculum our own, and don't feel the need to label it any one thing in particular, and b. I am leaning toward a more classical education, but it's safe to say that, two days in, I'm probably not doing it all right.) schooling for two days now, but I have a good feeling about it.  I haven't felt as rushed about getting certain amounts of things done each day...I've concentrated much more on the kids really enjoying and understanding the things we have been learning.  

     Instead of rushing through a bit of the science lesson today so we could "check that off" and move to the next thing on the list, we spent a good hour on a couple of pages of our Human Anatomy and Physiology text, discussing the skeletal system, looking at pictures, and getting up and pointing out our different bones and what they're called.  

     While we ate breakfast we read the story of Rumpelstiltskin.  Then we meandered over to the Tweebs history lesson in A Child's History of the World.  (They really enjoyed today's lesson about the Israelites going from Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan again, because we have been studying in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua in Bible class, so they knew their stuff!)

     While Motormouth finished up his science notebooking assignment, the Tweebs did their reading and some phonics/language worksheets with me.  Then while the Tweebs got cleaned up for the day, Motormouth did his reading in Favorite Medieval Tales.  

     The kids spent the afternoon at my cousin's house for their nature class that meets there every other week.  While I cleaned my kitchen (oh my goodness, part of my sanity is restored.), they learned about the healing properties of calendula, went on a nature walk, found and played with a rough green snake, and the Tweebs found some lovely poison ivy that they proceeded to rub all over their hands while they looked at my cousin and said, "Look at these soft leaves...wanna feel how soft they are??"  To which she replied, "What is our rule?"  ...."Don't pick something up unless you know what it is...."  "So what is that you are holding?"  "A leaf........oh no!  It has thumbs!"  So they may get a chance to test out their new calendula oil that they have been making for the past six weeks.  

     While we were eating dinner and getting ready for boy scouts, Motormouth and I worked on history.  The book we're using for him at the moment is Famous Men of the Middle Ages.  We're still in the introduction, so today's lesson was about Valhalla, the Valkyries, the Frost Giants, Heimdall and the forming of the world.  While we are Christian, and don't believe in mythology, I still find it absolutely fascinating.  Right now what we are studying is Germanic mythology, but we will also at some point be covering the Romans and Greeks.  We read our lesson together and worked on our memory work for history, and the Tweebs worked on Art.  We talked about Vincent Van Gogh and they each colored a coloring page based on Starry Night.  Before the boys went off to scouts and Thing 1 and I went to my sister's for a Partylite party, Motormouth finished up some math.  (Saxon 6/5, if you were wondering.)  

     So, that's what our day looked like today.  Like I said, it's a work in progress, and there are some tweaks I'm going to have to make to our schedule.  (Such as, in our Latin-centered education, today there was the GLARING omission of Latin class.  And I didn't realize that until I started  typing this paragraph.  Well, crap.)  There is always tomorrow....I know it's going to take a few days to get into the swing of things. Hopefully by next week I'll have us on track.  :)  

     I'm exhausted, and really should go to bed, but instead I'm going to sign off of here and watch Once Upon a Time.  Sleep is for the weak.