Finding Momentum

This week was wonderfully easy! I figured out that my younger student loves his independence and with the proper bribery and motivation he will work hard on his own.

Late work days, visiting sick friends, making homemade banana bread and trying to keep life balanced sums up this week.


SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler
Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

He loves doing his 'homework' and 'seatwork' book assignments prior to mom getting home from work.

When I get home, he is usually playing video games, and I go over to his desk to check his work in his WorkBoxes (we use a version of Sue Patrick's Workbox System).

He viewed and took notes on his Abeka curriculum for English, Grammar and Spelling, Biology, History, Economics and American Government and I signed off on his notetaking per class. Saxon Math 7/8 is going well, we are about 30 lessons in. However, we will be putting it aside next quarter/or block for Algebra. I love CTCMath and he does drills daily and is now revisiting fractions. Membean vocabulary training he is up to 32 words he's conqured and he practices 25 minutes a day. He is still enjoying Python Programming with TechRocket.

He had a full week of activities: Martial Arts, Breakdancing, Hip Hop Dance, Dodgeball and Archery.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler
Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

I had to email her C Programming teacher since the Test schedule wasn't on the Calender and Tiger Lilly missed her test. The teacher wasn't aware that the Test weren't visible. She fixed it and let Tiger Lilly take test. Her PC Pro class is going well and she is workign through the simulations with TestOut and her Landry teacher's lectures. Japanese had a glitch with the test password. The teacher fixed the problem and allowed Tiger to redo a homework quiz that she got kicked out of.

The Community College courses are picking up in intensity. Her Software Application's class had it's first test and project review of MS Excel and it wasn't easy. The US History 1 course was frustrating her because she didn't realize that the teacher wanted the papers structured a certain way - therefore her grade suffered. In Psychology, she's doing well, although the teacher skipped 3 chapters. In College Math, her tutor is working out to be a great asset and the hybrid class of online work and in person course is working out as a good primer to her in person classes for next semester.

Tiger Lilly loves Techrocket, learning Unity 3d and practicing Java are working out. Tiger also watched some tutorials on Javascript since she will be working with that during the Girls Who Code workshops. No Art  this week other than for fun.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Monday, Wed and Thu were good. I baked some bread for a sick friend on Tues which derailed dinner cooking so we just ordered out that night.

Cleaning. The house isn't clean and we are hoping to get it together over the weekend.

Work & Life Balance. I've been working late 2 days this week. However, now that Speed Racer is so independent with his work it doesn't hurt our schedule. My husband took over those days for the entire day so things went well.

Lesson Planning. Still getting the hang of the new classes.

Rest. I got a whopping 6.5 hrs sleep each night! Woot!.

Marriage Check Up. We had that nice weekend alone and since we haven't found the time. So it'll probably be a movie on Saturday..

The Groove Has Broken

NOTHING EVER GOES AS PLANNED

My husband and I reserved a beautiful 3 bedroom condo for us and the kids for Memorial Day Weekend ~ and none of them wanted to go. You read that right. So, we ended up having a quiet, relaxing weekend on the beach together.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler
Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

This week was not a good one for him. Can we say, "lazy"? Also, our schedule was run amok because of my work schedule change and the addition of some extra-curricular activities.

He didn't watch the Classroom DVDs with the Abeka curriculum for English, Grammar and Spelling (an all in one class for Abeka), Biology, History, Economics and American Government he just did the 'homework' and seatwork for each class. I am giving him his quizzes and test on Saturday. Saxon Math 7/8 was hurriedly done, but I didn't make him correct it. I figured I will see the gaps when he has his test this Saturday. With CTCMath he is working on 6th grade Algebra prep and finished the section with a score of 80%. I made him take the Standard and the Quantitative test on the section. Membean is working out well and he is getting 25 minutes a day for training. In Techrocket he is finishing up the 3rd module on Python Programming.

Test will be done this weekend.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler
Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

 Tiger Lilly is a budding Artist and Game Designer. She drew the cat.

Her class had some drama. In C Programming a rogue student was using some bad language and acting up during the chat and the teacher had to send out an email to all the parents about cutting off the 'chat' feature for the duration of class. I emailed the teacher and requested that she give the students another chance to communicate online. In PC Pro she just listened to lectures, but also did simulated work using the Testout.com software recommended by the teacher. Japanese was fun for her, especially during the 'office hours'. Her teacher actually lives in Japan and shares tidbits of the place to the students.

The Community College courses are on a roll. Her Software Application's class is a bit more work than she anticipated with a simulated environment that checks her work. Her US History 1 course is her least favorite because she has to write a 1 page discussion for each chapter and a paper regarding the events noted. In Psychology, her teacher is requiring a lot of quizzes but gives a lot of time per chapter. She's been on Chapter 1 for 3 weeks now. For College Math, she has a FREE tutor through the college on Wed and then has her class on Friday's. She's a few weeks ahead with her homework.

Tiger Lilly loves Techrocket, learning Unity 3d and practicing Java. She didn't do her Art DVDs this week. She is downloading software to prepare for the Animation Course she is taking this September.

The other two young adults in the house...

Are living back at home after a year on campus.

RAZOR RAY our college student is also a bit of an artist.

Although, he's moved back home, we rarely see him because he crashes at his friend's house.

ROSE (age 18yrs) senior in College
Homeschooled in the Middle of 10th grade on.

Coming out of her shell and meeting tons of people this semester. She's joined clubs like BreakDancing, Baptist Students, Latin Dancing and is the VP for the MB3 science club.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. My kids bailed on their cooking days! So I cooked and it didn't get done until 9pm some nights because I got off work later than usual.

Cleaning. It's wrecked since I haven't been able to keep on top of our schedule, but we will get it together this weekend.

Work & Life Balance. This week I had a technical training course for work. I lOVED IT! It was fun to get out of the routine. And get this - the class started at 10am til 6pm so I got to sleep in all week long - til Friday. Boy did going back to work at 6am throw me off. However, I got to go out to lunch with a work buddy and she and I caught up on some mommy gossip.

Lesson Planning. Didn't do it til late and it's not done for this week.

Rest. I loved this schedule - for the most part. I did get lots of sleep, just everything else went crazy.

Marriage Check Up. We were ships passing in the night this week. However, I did text him an 'I love you Boo' and gave him a kiss goodnight. Also, several calls during the lunch time in my class. So, he forgives me for letting our little Speed Racer sleep in his spot 2 nights in a row.