The children and I got haircuts this week and that is always a relief! I have struggled to find someone that my son will allow to cut his hair and he let my hairdresser cut it this time. She did a great job!
I also feel relieved that our team of children's choir leaders at church met today and got organized for the Children's Christmas Pageant. My mentor and accompanist has written and is directing this production. Since I already direct the adult choir, I just don't have time to coordinate another production, but I can lead my children's choir in learning their songs and my children are excited about their special parts in this event. I am truly thankful for my friend and how she continues to use her 35 years of teaching experience and her musical gifts to work with the children of our church!
I think we may have completed our lawn mowing and leaf blowing for the season today, while the weather was around 60 degrees and my Knockout Roses are still blooming!
In our homeschool this week…
We have been working through Week 9 of Cycle 3 in CC Foundations. We have talked about events that led up to the Civil War and have learned about the French and Indian War for the writing assignment in Essentials. We have also learned about the lymph system, Latin conjugations, skip counting by 15, western states in U.S. geography, and more irregular verb tenses. In Essentials (language arts), we also learned about the predicate nominative and linking verbs.
B began reading The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh. I also began reading aloud The Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am excited to be studying the era of pioneers and the wild west now. I grew up watching "Little House" on TV every night around supper time. I love to re-read the books that my grandmother read to me from the box set that was my birthday gift one year!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
I am looking forward to seeing family for two different Thanksgiving extravaganzas next week!
My favorite thing this week was…
The other night, one of my sweet children prayed over several things at bedtime and added, "And God, please help all of the bad people to become good and nice." That really stuck with me. I worry and pray about my own children a lot and how they will "turn out" as adults. I know that God is watching over them. It delights me to hear compassion coming from their own hearts for the lost.
Okay, another favorite was a family date night on Friday! Since my husband does not have to work this weekend, we were able to all go out to have sushi for supper, treats at Starbucks for dessert, and then we laughed our way through "Puss In Boots" at the movie theater! We had a great family time!
Questions/thoughts I have…
Sue, who hosts this blog hop, asked these questions, "Have you ever switched your curriculum or homeschool program right in the middle of the year? If so, how did it work out for you and your students?"
I thought about it, because I typically stick with the curriculum that we buy for the whole year, but here was my response:
"We did have to switch spelling and reading curricula the year that we discovered that my son had learning challenges in those areas. We went from tearing our hair out, to trying several different programs until we got the diagnoses and found materials designed for his learning needs. In that case, it took a few months and was a difficult time, but almost three years later, we are still successfully using the reading and spelling materials that we finally found for him and it has made a world of difference!
I am thankful that we did choose to stop using something that was NOT working and were not afraid to try something different! I have written several times about how the Barton Reading and Spelling System is changing my son's life. It is not his favorite part of school, but halfway through the program, he really does see that he is reading almost anything that he wants to now and that has opened up the world to him!"
I’m reading…
I am hoping to read more of Karen Kingsbury's "Leaving" over the holiday break. Her next book in the Bailey Flanigan series, "Longing", is releasing November 22 and I want to read it over Christmas break!
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
In the middle of November it was still nice enough this week to be outside for our math games during Essentials - with short sleeves! We have been so spoiled with warm weather this fall!
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| Rummikub |
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| Rummikub and skip counting with jump ropes |
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| The Menu Game You can read posts written by other homeschooling mamas at The Homeschool Mother's Journal and the Hip Homeschool Hop! |
Hi Rachel! I read a lot of blogs these days, but I'm pretty sure that the last time I wrote to you, I told you how much I liked the look of your blog, but I'm going to tell you again, just in case I'm mistaken! The colors and the layout are so inviting!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember reading The Courage of Sarah Noble two years ago to my kids. We were using Truth Quest History at the time. We loved that book, and TQ had so many great recommendations for history literature.We have also read several (not all yet) of the Little House series. These are always fun and interesting reads for the kids, and they always make me cry!
I enjoyed your post! Thanks for sharing!
Ooops! I forgot to say that I just cut my boys' hair yesterday, and I'm going to write a post about how to do it one of these days soon! As long as they keep it simple, I'm able to do it, but I have to remind them that I am not trained to cut hair! :-) Actually, I've been cutting Elliot's hair since he was about 3 mo. old (he had wild, scraggly hair), so I guess I have had a little practice!
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