Don't Make Unschooling A Band-Aid For Frustration With Homeschooling

Parental Frustration can cause knee-jerk reaction to Curriculum and Methods for Homeschooling

As a homeschooling and working coach, I have heard it a million times, "My child just isn't cooperating, doesn't want to learn to read, write or do math - I am just going to 'unschool' them."

The truth of the matter, if all parents could push off the learning, curriculum planning, teaching to someone else - even their child, we would.

Supporting a child in traditional school with helping with homework, frustrated teachers and more is difficult - but being the one and only one in charge of teaching a child who may have many challenges in focus, learning or motivation can be daunting.

WHAT IS UNSCHOOLING?

Child interest led learning that is initiated by the child's curiosity and the parent provides the resources to support their interest. There are several types of unschooling, some extreme, others that work as a hybrid where the child's parents still teach core subjects like reading, math, and or writing - but when the child desires to learn them. Some families the child initiates everything and what some would consider play like video games, watching movies, playing outside, the homeschooling parent categorizes the activity into what subjects the child is executing and tuning while they go about their regular play.

BEFORE YOU DECIDE ON UNSCHOOLING - KNOW THESE FIRST

• Have you 'deschooled' your child and yourself
• Evaluated Your Child's Learning Style
• Made sure their frustrations with learning isn't normal child expressions of disobedience
• Ask them how they would like to learn or be presented with the information
• Have you made learning fun or are you bringing home traditional school methods that didn't work for your child
• Is there a parental and child personality mis-match and should you have someone else teach them the subject
• What is your child's attention span

YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT JUMPING TO UNSCHOOLING (right away)

My post on 'The Curriculum Recipe' is a good place to start before considering unschooling. The method of unschooling is a great option for homeschoolers and after-schooling. However, make sure it is a good fit for your family. You can do unschooling for a short period of time, or infuse different methods of instruction within an unschooling framework for the school year. Deciding on a method to homeschool should always be done with the child's learning style, communication methods, love language, personality type and the parents ability to meet them in consideration.

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Exposing Kids To New Things - Even When They Say No

FEAR of the UNKNOWN or INTIMIDATED or just UNMOVED

These are some of the reasons my kids refused to try new sports, adventures, foods, activities or anything.

This was a pitfall I refused to let them fall into. There was so many things that I never tried to do because of the above and they became missed opportunities.

DON'T LET THEM WALK AWAY without TRYING FIRST

So I made a deal with my kids. Try it for the season, and if you don't like it, we will conquer something else.

They had to make the commitment to at least try the activity, sport, or experience for the duration before moving on.

MOST TIMES THEY FIND ~ THEY ACTUALLY ENJOYED IT

In most all situations where I had them try something new, they enjoyed it much more than they anticipated. Some things, they've even stuck with for years more than the initial introduction.

EXPERIENCING SOMETHING NEW is a method of ENRICHMENT of the LIFE EXPERIENCE

This year my Speed Racer has tried Paddling (and he loves it) and my Tiger Lilly has tried working with a personal trainer and she likes it (some days).

Coasting Through To The End

WEEKLY WRAP UP

My husband and I escaped to VA Beach for a night and spent most of our time - sleeping, walking on the boardwalk and watching kytes fly.

The kiddos were busy, my oldest, Razor Ray, worked a double at the hospital, before he headed to the beach for Spring Break. My oldest daughter, Rose, got her CPR certification updated for her summer job at iDTech Camp. Also, she spent the week working on scholarship applications and a mobile app design plan with her sister.

Rose and I have been having a serious challenge finding her a volunteer job to gain her PA required volunteer hours. She is required to have 900 hours. If she wanted, she could get a part-time or full time job in a medical related field, but her school schedule would seriously compete with that. We have a year to figure this all out. But it's been frustrating.

One of our LapTops died, and we have to take it to get serviced. It slowed us down since they had to share a computer with each other or use my desktop. This has made our days longer and it's resulted in some subjects being pushed to next week.

Old man Winter tried to mess up our first day of Spring with a Sprinkling of snow mixed with rain.

Speed Racer, 6th grader

His work with Time4Learning.com is going well  (Biology, Language Arts , US History and Language Extensions). And I must admit, this week I haven't checked his work daily. However, on Wed I reviewed his test/ quiz grades and noted that he'd have to redo some of his Biology work.

Math, he's bumped up to doing Teaching Textbooks, Saxon daily. The Saxon is helping him retain facts and get the practice he needs, which has made his TT scores high. (I trick him into doing both, by saying TT is his 'Math Lab' and I have him to Saxon in the am, 1st thing, and TT in the PM as the last subject.)

Writing (Time4Writing) will end this week and he has an 'A'.
Vocabulary (Wordsmart), Language Practice (IXL), Reading Speed Reading Comprehension Workbook (Spectrum books), Spelling (Sequential Spelling and Spelling You See)

Technology includes Underground RailRoad (Minecraft Homeschool) which he loves the 'build' parts and I love the quiz sections, Mod Design (Youth Digital).

Sports daily, but Lacrosse is picking up and taking over Dance and Martial Arts days.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader
She only had an actual mid-term exam in Sociology. Her other subjects required a project or a paper in Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation

Due to her computer being down, she couldn't finish her homework in Web Design with Currclick.com or Python (with Landry Academy). She couldn't finish her project in Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya or Blender Animation with Youth Digital.

She was still able to attend her Psychology class with Currclick on Monday. And study US History to 1877 using Instantcert cards.

She was able to watch her Pre-Calc dvds with Abeka and do her quizzes/homework. But she didn't do her CLEP Professor Algebra.

She still is working through (2 days a week now): One Year Adventure Novel (she is determined to write her book this year). Chemistry she is working through with Education-Portal.

Although she does PE (Martial Arts, Dance) we'd like to add more.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Monday, I bailed and we got Pizza. I got back on track on Tue-Thu and got dinner served thanks to Crock-Pot meals and Hubba helping out.

Cleaning. The house is still clean - upstairs. I'm washing clothes again (does it ever end?) so the basement has unfolded clothes on the couch. I am also looking for a pooper scooper service to come by my house weekly and clean any dog waste out the backyard. Yeah, the kids do it, but not to the specifications of my liking. I don't have the energy to do it and neither does hubby.

Work & Life Balance. Another difficult week. Let's just say I barely made it through with a smile on my face. I had several long work days, which meant the kiddos did even less work than they would've if I was home. Can't wait for my 'Sleep In Saturdays'.

Lesson Planning. This is so easy now since I don't have to type the Abeka daily assignment, test and quizzes on the lesson plans. It only takes me an hour to do now. Especially since there is a lot of repetition for next week due to our lack of computer and inability to complete all coursework.

Rest. Bad rest week. I guess the 'Spring Forward' an hour sucked out my reserved rest cells. I'm making up work hours from the snow we had and getting up at 4am, but not getting to bed til 11pm. I have creeped in some napping several days this week, but it's not enough.

Marriage Check Up. We were ships passing in the night this week. Which was fine considering we had a weekend together. We have plans to catch a movie and dinner on Saturday.

Why Homeschoolers should Test Their Kids

WHY HOMESCHOOLERS SHOULD TEST THEIR KIDS

I must admit, I wasn't on board with homeschooling until 18 years after I'd started having kids. I was completely satisfied with the benefits of traditional education - as it was working for my kids.

However, once I started homeschooling my younger two kids, I didn't want them to lose the 'skill' of test taking.

BENEFITS OF TESTING

It helps parents know where you child's weak areas are.

It eases testing stress for students when they transition into a school that requires test (ie: college, military, career)

It teaches your kid to study and prepare for test.

WAYS TO MAKE TESTING MORE ACCEPTABLE FOR YOUR KID

Teach them how to prepare for test.

Don't take testing too seriously - tell your child that it's a way for 'you (the parent teacher)' to 'test' how you are doing in teaching your child.

Let your kid retake test that they didn't do well on the first time - to show them how studying and hard work can progress their knowlegde.

HOW TESTING HAS HELPED MY KIDS

Testing has helped me to pinpoint areas that my kids were having major challenges or learning gaps. Then we would try another teaching method, or exposure to the subject matter. We would teach then test on those areas until my child grasped the concept. There is no hurry in homeschooling.

I always let them retake their quizzes and test. Which became a learning opportunity for me - teach them the following (1) Notetaking (2) Study techniques using Quizlet, flashcards (3) Pinpointing what they needed extra help in.

TESTING REQUIRED IN THE REAL WORLD

Interview Pre-Test (Yes, I've had to take a test in order to get a job)

Military Testing

Trade School Testing

Continued employment training and testing required

College Entry Testing and Testing During Courses

WEEKLY WRAP UP

We started our lighter schedule this week. All of us are relaxing more.
Snow. Snow. And more Snow with Ice.

Speed Racer, 6th grader

He started Lacrosse this week while it was raining (in addition to his BreakDancing and Martial Arts). That means he had a sport everyday from Mon-Sat. But, Lacrosse was cancelled due to inclement weather (yay!).

This week he worked independently. The curriculum choices for Spring were specifically selected so he could work alone (mostely). I just review his progress with him mid-way and at the end. If he has to redo anything (and we have time) he does so that day - otherwise, it goes to Saturday homework.

His day ran about 4-5 hours with breaks. He worked daily on Biology (Time4Learning-HighSchool), Language Arts (Time4Learning-HS), US History (Time4Learning-HS), Language Extensions (Time4Learning-HS), Math 7 (Teaching Textbooks), Writing (Time4Writing), Vocabulary (Wordsmart), Underground RailRoad (Minecraft Homeschool), Language Practice (IXL),  Mod Design (Youth Digital) and his Speed Reading Comprehension Worksheet. The subjects he works with me are Saxon Math, Sequential Spelling, with Spelling You See with me.

He had very little that he didn't finish correctly. However, some of his quizzes and test on Biology and History he didn't do to well on. So it becomes his 'Saturday' work to retake the quizzes and test until he gets a B or better.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

Tiger Lilly is now at a point where I am helping her with some study skills to prepare for her coming mid-terms next month in her Dual Enrollment courses. (Sociology, Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation). This week she's got her rythm and only asked me to review several papers for her. However, I was concerned that she was rushing to finish them on the due date. Therefore, she and I reworked her schedule so she would do the more intensive work assigned during the beginning of the week.

On Wednesday she takes Web Design with Currclick.com which she had 1 project due, Python class with Landry she got stuck on her project and had to email the teacher for help, Psychology with Currclick on Monday she did a group activity she liked. Blender Animation with Youth Digital she is adding her own touches and showed us her work. Chemistry with Education-Portal, she is working through the videos - I don't require her to take the test - only the quizzes after each section.

After her Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya class she compared animation tools Blender and Maya that she's using and thought Blender was easier to work with. However, Maya is an industry standard so she is determined to learn it. Her current project requires she uses it.

Pre-Calc with Abeka she got an 'A' on her test.

Still she's studying for her CLEP exam in US History to 1877. In her last few lessons of CLEP Professor Algebra - She did well on her weekly diagnostic test. She also took a Practice test for the Math Accuplacer (college entry exam) which she go a really high score on.

For PE she is doing dance and Martial Arts. She and I are supposed to do exercise videos but - mom's bailed on her a few times. So...I will try to do better next week.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. I did a lot of meal prep over the weekend. As long as I got dinner cooking as soon as I got home, or had my daughter start it, we had dinner. But there was one day that we just ate out because it was more convenient.

Cleaning. The house is clean! Yay! I didn't do anything outside the house this weekend so the kids got their chores done. Hubba and I cleaned the rest.

Work & Life Balance. Crazy weather messed up my usual schedule. Thursday I got off because of snow, and Tuesday I left work early because of it. Work has been hectic at the day gig. With the wacky weather my hours have been very erratic. So I've pretty much left the kids to work independently and what they didn't finish, they did on the weekend.

Lesson Planning. The lesson plans are now easier to do weekly. I got them finished Sunday night and placed them on the kids desk in their notebooks.

Rest. I've been getting a good share of 6-7 hour sleeping nights since I've been getting to work later in the day. I worked later, which I don't like, but it allowed me to be more refreshed during the day. And  - I didn't need my nap.

Marriage Check Up. We didn't do date night. But we did stay in bed late on Saturday and watch TV since the kids slept in too. I also sent him some 'I love You' text during the week - since we barely got to see each other.

Always Working Towards The Right Fit

GETTING READY TO SPRING CLEAN CURRICULUM

As we move into the month of March, I find that our block schedule is a perfect fit for us. My kids constantly love a good challenge, but sometimes, they want to coast a bit.

This is coming into our last quarter of our school year. It will last from March 2nd to May 17th.

My steps for sliding into 4th Quarter.

1) Create Report Cards for my kids
2) Update their Umbrella School Review Forms (which are rather detailed and can take a lot of time)
3) Place Test, Quizzes, Project Pictures in their big Notebook of their school year.
4) Put aside pictures for the yearbook they will create at the end of the quarter
5) Plan out the final quarter with 'KID's CHOICE' classes
6) Plan summer camp and curriculum

I let them pick what they want their school year to look like (for any course except Math and Writing)

OUR 4th QUARTER and Final BLOCK of the School Year Curriculum
*Kid Approved*

PE:

Spring Break Camps offered in our area: (1) Circus Camp (2) Lacrosse Camp (3) Exploration Trip Camp

We are lucky to have an area that caters to the working parent and they have Spring Break camps for the time where schools are out. Where were live is close to 3 counties which all have different Spring Break times which allows us up to 3 weeks of camps to enroll. This is how my kids get a lot of their socialization. It seems to be enough for them and keeps them happy.

Sports (ongoing): Spring recreation sports leagues sign up (in addition to Dance and Martial Arts)

SPEED RACER's Line Up.

Since he finished Abeka Academy, he wants a mostly online, interactive curriculum (and so do I since it's easier on me.)

Minecraft Homeschool (Underground Railroad Study)

Saxon Math

Speed Reading (software)

WordSmart (online Wordsmart-Vocab Building Program)

Teaching Textbooks (3 days a week)

Spelling You See

Sequential Spelling (the cd)

Biology (Time4Learning.com)

Language Arts [High School] (Time4Learning.com)

US History [High School] (Time4Learning.com)

Spanish (CleverDragons.com and Education-Portal.com)

Black History (DVD Based Curriculum with Mom's homemade syllabus)

TIGER LILLY's Line Up.

Art Apreciation (Dual Enrollment Community College Class)

Interpersonal Communication  (Dual Enrollment Community College Class)

Sociology  (Dual Enrollment Community College Class)

Animation (Digipen and Youth Digital)

Web Page Development (Currclick)

Python (Landry)

Chemistry (Education-Portal)

Psychology (Currclick)

Pre-Calculus (Abeka Academy)

One Year Adventure Novel (DVD learning set)

TEST Planned: US History CLEP, Analyzing Literature CLEP, Math Accuplacer

Weekly Wrap Up

Speed Racer, 6th grader

He's been rushing through is work this week. I've let him do much of it independent. However, there were a few test and assignments he's had to repeat. I believe it's because he wants to start his new schedule for our 4th quarter. He is finishing up his last week of Abeka instruction and asked to foregore the videos to just finish the work. I let him since he was so passionate in his desire to do so.

Overall, it was a great week with little hiccups.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

Tiger Lilly had a hectic week as her coursework for her Dual Enrollment courses picked up.  (Sociology, Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation). She had several papers and projects due that she had to prepare over the weekend to be ready to turn in on Monday.

Her Wednesday, Web Design with Currclick.com was pretty slim as only 1/2 the students showed up online that day, Python class with Landry she is working on another project - her teacher emailed her to see how she was doing on it, Psychology with Currclick on Monday was a breeze. Blender Animation with Youth Digital is almost 75% done. Chemistry with Education-Portal, she finished 24 videos this week (they are only about 10 min a video so she's been watching 3 a day).

She missed her Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya class, so I emailed the teacher to see where she could submit her animation project she'd finished. She didn't have time to attend the class since she had some college work deadlines.

Pre-Calc with Abeka had her doing 1 quiz and 1 test (her 2nd) this week.

She's studying for her CLEP exam in US History to 1877 Review with Instantcert and has memorized  75 of the 82 facts in her 1st set of instantcert flashcards. CLEP Professor Algebra she finished she completed a Diagnostic test and scored well on it. We are using this to refreshen her math so she can take the Math Accuplacer (college entrance exam - hoping she test into Calculus 1).

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. I'm on a roll and prepped my meats for the week on Monday. Then I got fancy and put the meals into foil pans for baking. I had my daughter place them in the oven or crockpot when I was on my way home. So, from Mon-Thu we had a homecooked meal. Friday's is always Pizza day (my break from cooking day).

Cleaning. We expected furniture delivery but I had to call and postpone it since we didn't move the old furniture out. Why? It snowed. Ugh! So my Hubba and I had to rush and move furniture (it nearly killed me I'm so out of shape). He did a wonderful job of cleaning the house, putting together some of the furniture and taking excess furniture to the dump.

Work & Life Balance. Well even though I was off work to escape to Florida, I came back to some high profile deadlines. I worked some long days but still got home by 6pm. The kids just had some later nights doing school with their dad.

Lesson Planning. Finished my quarter end report cards. Did the lesson plan for the final quarter of our school year. Also, had 'grade' and goal discussions with the kids. Summer camp list and links were sent to the kids for their final okay, and I'll put the deposits down for them next week (I hope).

Rest. Sporatic this week. I seem to have a bit of insomnia. So I've stayed up editing one of my documents for my side business (yes - I'm insanely hyper. But I'm working with it.)

Marriage Check Up. Date night with the husband included going out to the movies to see Seventh Son. It was okay and kept me awake. Then we did dinner and chatted about work, the kids, and TV shows.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

What a Great and Productive Week --- Maybe.

Crazy but Productive! You ever have one of those weeks where your schedule gets thrown from hither to there? Well this was that kind of week for us. Snow visited and that meant yucky driving conditions and augmented work schedules. Luckily, we are homeschoolers so we can just go with the flow.

Field Trip Foiled - again!  Didn't make it due to the weather. The facility was opened but I didn't want to have to drive the extra 20 minutes to get them after work (when the traffic was bad and snow was picking up). So I gave the kids the day to relax.

This Week in Rewind
Only had School 4 Days this Week

Speed Racer, 6th grader

He had the a great week of the month so far - with the exception of some 'corner reflection time'. He has a somewhat lightened load compared to last semester.

In the morning - independently, he worked on IXL (Fractions and Verbs). He also did his Youth Digital [Mod Design], Clever Dragons - he's not liking too much. The educational bent on it isn't as ordered as I'd like. He did Time4Writing [Paragraphs] with me looking over his shoulder.

The afternoons I have to monitor and interact with his learning for Saxon Math, Spelling You See, Abeka Academy [I hand out his test, quizzes and then grade and record them]. We did a few days of copywork for Anatomy, Fraction Practice Review Sheets and he practiced Piano with Simply Music.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

Tiger Lilly just kicked of this week with 3 online college courses. These teachers are much better than her English 121 teacher was (in my opinion). We are finding that in college, we are glad we prepared her for these courses by exposing her to the information before the courses. The college teachers don't really 'teach' on a personal level.

We are currently in dispute with the English 121 teacher regarding a grade - the Dean of the English Department is reviewing the dispute. This class was horrible. The teacher didn't give feedback on the papers turned in, nor did she allow for rewrites. Truth is I don't think she even read the papers turned in. If the grade stands - she will get a 'C' (she's only 1.2 points from a B) However if the Dean reviews the papers turned in - even the one re-submitted after my daughter practically begging the teacher for feedback - then she will get a B in the class.

Her online college courses (Sociology, Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation) had her doing pretty much the following (1) a short discussion paper (2) a quiz (3) reading 1 to 2 chapters (about 25-60 pages a week). I had her take notes that she reads over daily for passive studying.

She also is doing Chemistry and Pre-Calc with Abeka, Psychology with Currclick which was cancelled this week, Money Doesn't Grow on Trees class is ending next week,  Web Design with Currclick (she did term review),  Python class (she's working on her program project and took a quiz), US History to 1877 Review with Instantcert and Education-Portal videos, Blender Animation with Youth Digital (she did 1 day this week). Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya (starts on Saturday so she set up her environment and downloaded her software). Lastly, she is doing CLEP Professor Algebra review so she can take the Math Accuplacer exam and retake the SAT in April.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. This week I was prepared (thank goodness!). I prepped the meat, had prepared side items, and dinner was on the table on Monday-Thursday. Friday is usually Pizza night.

Cleaning. Finished washing clothes but they are in a pile on the couch in the kids classroom.

Work & Life Balance. Another challenging week with the weather going crazy and some hot assignments due at work. Not to mention I've been exploring other opportunities and that takes up lots of time.

Lesson Planning. Haven't even started to do this for next week. Hoping to do 2 weeks of this over the weekend.

Rest. Got 6 to 7 hours sleep this week. Although I've had to do two cups of coffee to get through the day without being cranky. On Wednesday I just bailed on hubby and the kids after I cooked dinner. So he took over school earlier that day.

Marriage Check Up. Date Night consisted of Hubby and I staying in bed and watching one of his favorite shows on hulu until I fell asleep on him, lol!

Getting It All Done

The Secrets To Accomplishing Our Goals

I find that in life we tell others great ways to make their dreams come true ~ but we never do it for ourselves.

I've always dreamed big. Even though I began from very humble and trying beginnings as a child of a teenaged mom and single mother.

However, I NEVER heard my mom complain about taking care of us. Not one time. She worked 2 or 3 jobs at a time to do it.

Watching her, I realized, I could do anything I wanted ~ I just had to toss aside negative thoughts.

Daily Goal and To Do List

I make a goal list for the day. (1) Of things I need and want to accomplish (2) Of things my kids want to accomplish [I ask them]

All of those goals line up with our family goals in which my husband and I work on together throughout the year.

Teaching Kids to set Goals

I make it a point to help my kids to set goals. To teach them to navigate beyond their personal roadblocks to make their lives as fullfilling as they desire it to be.

Ways to Get Kids involved.

1) Have them help with the weekly lesson plan.
2) Have them name 3 things for the week they'd like to accomplish for themselves
3) Place their goal list and lesson plan where they can see and check off.

WEEKLY WRAP UP
We drove to DISNEYWORLD...on the Tue before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Dinner ~ was at the Golden Corral restaurant. The food was great and the place was packed in Orlando, FL. We were able to bless our waitress with double our tip. I really wanted to considering the people next to us stiffed her on her tip. It was the best feeling in the world as she was ever grateful.

O_o and returned on Monday Morning at 3am ~ and YES I dragged myself to work by 7:45am.

And didn't spend 1 cent on Disney tickets. Cheap man's trip.
(1) Visit all the Resort Decorations
(2) Go to Celebration for Tree Lighting Ceremony and free activities
(3) Visit Campfire at Wilderness Resort with Chip N Dale - taking our own marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers for the campfire songs
(4) Downtown Disney where free entertainment abounds. ~ Now, to drive home. To the cold ~ but happy.

Kids Dancing The Night Away at DownTown Disney

Making Our Own Gingerbread Houses at the Resort

Board Game Mania Late Night

Crafts at the resort

Disney Resort Christmas Decoration Self Tour

Work this week.
One of our LapTops bit the dust! Eeek! and it really set us back a bit. Thankfully, my oldest daughter, Rose, was able to take it to her college for a 'free' repair. But it was wasted. The laptop was dead. Luckily, Walmart had a sale and the kids and I put our funds together to purchase a replacement for $299.

Field Trip! BUST! We planned to go to the Imagination Station for a viewing of 101 Dalmations!
BUT, I overslept a bit, and the weather was so bad that we wouldn't have made it to the show in time.

So....we all went back to bed.

It was planned to be a special treat since we have our very own Dalmation.

The kids had a light day of work that day, but we still accomplished over half of our work which was great.

Speed Racer has been working very well independently but due to the lack of his own laptop, he had to do his computer work with me on my computer which made our nights longer.


Tiger Lilly is in the home stretch for her 1st of 3 block schedules for this school year.  She'll be finalizing some of her courses. Now she is packed with subjects til our vacation in 3 weeks. After that she'll start her Winter College Course, a Landry course and a Currclick class for the Spring.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Another bad week of planning since we didn't get home til early Monday morning and I had to run in to work with just 3.5 hrs sleep. However, I did get to the store that evening and got some meat with some quick marinades to make the week of cooking easier. The rest of the week we had a great homecook dinner that my Tiger Lilly prepared.

Cleaning. Didn't happen. The house is a mess. We plan to tidy up this weekend since my son Razor Ray will be painting my living room.

Work & Life Balance. This week was rather light. I only worked 9 hours on Monday and Tuesday was off work for our family field trip. And work was not very challenging since I had mostly yearly training to finish. I flexed my hours the remainder of the week which ended up pretty good.

Lesson Planning. I finished our lesson plans all the way through January 8th. We'll be taking off from schooling from Dec 22nd to Jan 3rd so that made it easy. Also I did a template for our 'light' January schedule and our Spring schedule.

Rest. Failed at this on Monday since returning from Disneyworld at 3 am and barely sleeping. Thankfully, Tuesday I was off work and able to sleep in a few extra hours. I stayed up late with my hubby watching movies on Wednesday (he suckered me into it.) Everything was back on track for me by Thursday and I was getting a comfortable 6-7 hour night sleep. Whoopi!

Weekend Plans. Date Night with hubby Friday! Kwanza celebration after my Tiger Lilly takes the SAT on Saturday, ending with taking my dog to the vet on Sunday.

Alternative Sports My Kids Love!

Lots of people ask me what do you do with your kids as far as 'socialization' and sports if they are homeschooled?

See that kid up there? That's my Speed Racer. The high energy -Generation X- newbie xgamer kid who loves being active, is brave and doesn't mind mom signing him up 'just to try something new out'.

My Speed Racer is competing in a Break Dance Competition. He's only been doing this for 1 year. But if he wasn't homeschooled, it's something I don't think we ever would've considered due to lack of time.

Now that he and Tiger Lilly are homeschooling, I am hard pressed to find a sport they love and can do well into their teens.

My young lady that was never much of a sports addict, now loves cheering, martial arts, and lacrosse. Coming up on her high school years, we are exploring some of the other sports below and even an All Star Cheer team that isn't associated with a school.

THE LINE UP OF SPORTS I HAVE PLANNED FOR MY ADVENTURERS TO EXPLORE

These are non-traditional sports that aren't limited to a local school system. But they can be fun, earn scholarships and give your kid some awesome things to do with friends.

Archery
Bowling
BMX Racing
Snowboarding
Tennis
Fencing
Martial Arts
Swimming
Boating
Racing
Dogdeball
Jump Roping

WEEKLY WRAP UP

The routine keeps changing! Gosh, maybe because mom keeps tweaking things. This week went rather smooth.

Tiger Lilly has taken it upon herself to spend extra time drawing.

My lady little artist drew this on our computer with just her keyboard. So I ordered her a computer drawing pad to make her creation of art easier.

Her other subjects are well under way and she did 3 - one day courses on Currclick that she really enjoyed. American Indians, Colonial Times and Redcoats. It made for a busy week but she said she loved it. However, with Algebra 2 it's been a tug of war. She does good in Abeka quizzes but is failing the Teaching Textbook quizzes. Therefore, the tutor with Abeka is working with her this coming week as well as her sister Rose to keep her on track.

Speed Racer is doing well with his new math Saxon Math and Word Up! Also, I've been doing some 'speed reading' drills with him this week. He likes it and we decided to keep it up. This week for him had some really high points with him enjoying his tennis lessons, pushing several days work to 'homework' on the weekends, and him acing his math test with both Saxon and Abeka.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Let's see, I did manage to get a home cooked meal on the table three times this week. Tuesday was a take off day since I was off work and slept way too late to do anything. I couldn't have pulled this off without my George Foreman grill, pre-made marinade and Goya rice.

Cleaning. Eh? I've finally wrestled the clothes washing issue  -except for folding the pile of clothes on my basement couch (I'm tackling that this Saturday - I promise). The rest of the house is in serious need of dusting and moping. The cleaning lady I've been looking for hasn't showed up yet. Just can't find anyone in my price range or area yet.

Work & Life Balance. It's working out great since this week I had Tuesday off! The job I have now is very flexible and allows me to work all my hours anyway I want during the week as long as I get in the alloted hours by the end of the month. It's been working out well for my family. Although next summer this may change since I have to find another contract position then.

Lesson Planning. I was able to get it out on Sunday and am late working on next week's schedule. The kids had some subject changes since we are doing a block schedule.

Rest. I have been on schedule with it this week. However, on Tuesday I slept til noon (which is unheard of for me). I must've needed it. Then I went out to lunch with a work buddy. After that, it was to work with the kids and a late night since I was over-rested. Wednesday, I was dog tired and had to take a power nap to get back on track. By Thursday I was back on schedule and getting 6 hours sleep a night.



Balance Check Up - Working and Homeschooling

Sometimes I don't know how I do this.

HOMESCHOOL

WORK FULL TIME OUTSIDE THE HOME

RUN A SIDE BUSINESS

BE A WIFE, MOTHER, TAXI DRIVER...the list goes on.

My Motto?

'CAN'T means WON'T'

One thing my humble and challenging upbringing has taught me was ... there are ways to get it all done - if you are creative.

Finding the Right JOB

This is the area where most parents have a major challenge. Finding a job that allows the flexibility of home teaching. My husband and I have played with all types of combinations so that one of us could be available and home most times with out kids. He worked night jobs as a Security Guard, Help Desk Technician, Real Estate Broker, Call Center Manager and on. I've worked in the Information Technology field most of my life. I actually changed careers because I loved technology but also loved the flexibility my techie friends had.

With the challenge of finding this balance, I've even helped my older daughter groom her career to have a wide variety of opportunities that afford her the ability to have a flexible work schedule.

The cost of flexibility is usually hit in the (1) Income (2) Location (3) Job Advancement areas. But it's not a trade off you can't recoup later.

Having A Spouse That Helps

This is where I am blessed. My husband has played the role as 'work from home' dad. Where he cared for the kids in the early morning until he left to meet his clients when we had an at home business.

We share in the schooling. He takes early morning and late evening. I take the midday afternoon and do the coordination.

Curriculum that's Easy And Teaches for you

I have to find a curriculum that keeps us both coordinated and does most all of the teaching for us. This has really helped both of us find success without stress in homeschooling.

We'd love to do some really fun stuff, but the truth is, to keep the homeschool train running nicely, having a box curriculum where I can have my kid call a free tutor, have the curriculum all laid out, have everything I basically need to teach my kid makes life easier.

I do add on 'supplements' but I make sure they are also, little maintence, on the parental part.

Using Outside Childcare or Tutors

There were times where my husband and I had overlap on our workdays. When our older kids weren't able to be home with the younger two, we hired a 'Home Helper'.

Having the 'Home Helper' has been GREAT! She administers the kids schooling for that day, makes their lunch, tidy up the main level, and puts our crock pot dinner on so when I get home - dinner's done.

Work Outside the Home OR Inside the Home

We've done both. Working inside the home has been much more challenging for both my husband and I - especially when the kids were younger.

Working From Home - leaves very little space or lines in the sand for 'work-time/home-time'. We ended up still needed to flop our schedules and it seemed the kids never understood the 'working from home' idea.

Working Outside the Home - this works well for us. It's a clear division of home vs work. Also, it allows us to network with other people in our fields. We also, even get out for lunch breaks with each other, or our co-worker friends. In most cases - the pay has been better when we've worked outside the home.

Stay Organized!

This is a BIG deal. Whenever we don't do this, life is chaos.

Things that must be done to keep things rolling.

Make a Daily To Do List, checking off every item as you go.

Do this on Sunday's or set aside a 'Planning' day for the below:

- Workbox System in place (Sue Patrick's Workbox System)
- Meal Planning and Prepping for the week
- Lesson Plans - Weekly Schedules posted and given to the kids and all the 'teachers'
- Schedule in 'sleep' time
- Use electronic calenders like google or gmail calender to remind all parties of schedule

DO YOU WORK AND HOMESCHOOL? WANT TO? HOW DO YOU?

WEEKLY WRAPUP

Tiger Lilly schedule has changed. Her Writing courses ended last week. WriteGuide and Time4Writing were great courses. In place of them she is starting Sociology and Psychology which are on her CLEP test list for next Spring.  Finally, she's finishing up her Youth Digital, MOD Design course and hope to start on her 3D animation course with them over the weekend. 

We are really trying to get her ready for the Analyzing Literature CLEP and she is struggling with it (but we just started). I realized she needs more time so I moved the test date another week out.

Speed Racer is loving his new class, Minecraft Homeschool 'Vikings'.  He's all set up, finished his initial quiz and orientation and loves it! We also started WORD UP! with Compass Classroom to get him up to par on root word association since we aren't doing Latin. His other courses are going rather well. Overall, he's calming down and becoming a more focused student! Whew! His big sister Rose who administers school for me a few days of the week said he's on track.

He's getting ready for a big Breakdancing battle this weekend. Also, he loves Tennis (we just started it last week - he complained initially) and is getting close to being rewarded a strip in martial arts.

WORKING PARENT

Nothing this week went as planned. It was a complete chaotic week since I didn't do any meal planning on Sunday and barely got lesson plans done.

Work balance has been off since I started a new project at work, but I did get to go out with work friends for 1 hour in which I sacrificed homeschool work that evening to do.

However, because of the dissaray of our schedules, I started working on next week's schedule so this won't happen again :-D





Spelling Success by Using 2 Curriculums

SPELLING CAN BE A PAIN

I know it because I am using 3 spelling programs to help my struggling speeller.

After doing Abeka Spelling for 1.5 years I realized my little guy hadn't mastered 'phonics' or sound recognition. I had to do a 'triage' of sorts. I wanted a fast and effective way to teach him to spell or decode words - but I loved the long and challenging spelling list used with Abeka.

The trick: How do I do both?

Teach decoding of words to a kid that has weak phonics skills.

Give that kid challenging word list to keep him interested?

Also - have him LEARN SPELLING IN DIFFERENT WAYS SO HE DOESN'T REALIZE he is taking the same subject 3 times a day?

THE LINE UP?

  

Number 1

SPELLING YOU SEE

This program using 'chunking'. We liked that there is (1) no testing (2) no wordlist to remember (3) just read and copy. First you read the passage to your kid. Then they highlight the vowel chunks, constantant chunks etc, then they write it. This runs for 4 days, no test, and on day for it's read, highlight chunks and then full dictation where you count the number of words written correctly. After 3 weeks of this my little guy was getting all the words correct by day 4!

Number 2

SEQUENTIAL SPELLING

This is another 'chunking' program. This comes with our without a DVD/CD for you to put in the computer. I used the DVD/CD so Speed Racer could do this independently. This method is (1) a different word list daily that build on the lesson before (2) no studying (3) a 'test' daily on words the kid doesn't know (4) after writing the word 'incorrectly' the child crosses it out and re-writes it the correct way. Then viola' you are done after about 5-10 minutes.

Number 3

ABEKA SPELLING 6th GRADE

Traditional Spelling program with huge (did I say huge?) wordlist to memorize. I had him copy these words 1 time a day. Initially, in 4th grade he would write them 2 times a day, then put them in spellingcity.com, create flashcards and try to memorize the words. He failed most of his spelling test. So I had cut his list in half. It didn't really help though. So.... after using the Number 1 and Number 2 programs, I decided to just have him copy his list from Abeka 1 time a day. After 2 weeks. Did you hear me just 2 weeks! I gave him a test in Abeka after he'd been doing the 'chunking' spelling programs above. Without studying the kid got 80% or higher on his Abeka test!

SUCCESS! Using 3 Spelling programs.

but I LOVE

MEMBEAN.COM  - tackles spelling and vocabulary

BLENDING CURRICULUM can create the PERFECT one for your kid.

WEEKLY WRAP UP

 This week we've been busy! Of course we always seem so.

Overall we had shortened work days since my older son who goes to College nearby was suffering from the flu. So, my husband and I went to check on him and give him meds for 2 days. It put an axe in our homeschool day since we homeschool mostly in the evenings when we are home from work.

I was off work on Friday so had to work a longer day earlier in the week to compensate since I'm a full-time worker, but have the flexibility to work my hours how I need to.

Tiger Lilly took her Composition CLEP test. She got registered at Community College (Yippee!) while we were there testing and I had her take the Accuplacer Test (college placement test) because it was free. She scored on College Level in both Math and English. Therefore, she can start both her English and Math tracks without any remedial courses! Woot! Yay homeschooling!

Other than her week of testing, she did squeeze in some work. She finished her last Time4Writing.com course and WriteGuide.com American Literature course. This will spurn her focused studies in hopes of passing the Humanities and American Literature CLEPs in December and January. Also, she touched on her Abeka subjects (Algebra 2, Chemistry, Physics, US History) but skipped (Econ, American Gov't this week).

She also had a cheer competition this Sunday past. They won the competition at 1st place! Now we'll be preparing for another competition at a local amusement park.

Speed Racer is on track and constantly asking for more material to challenge him. However, he tends to rush through things when he gets bored. He finished his online writing course with Sandiego Scribblers. I'm working on inserting a Latin Based Vocabulary program called Word Up! by Compass Classroom this coming week.

He and his new buddy he met from a homeschool event I coordinated through our local homeschool group, went to TigerCon this weekend. We followed up with a visit to a Comic Book Store's Halloween celebration giveaway and my son was on cloud 9.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. This week I planned meals pretty well. I only need four for the week since Friday is our pizza night. Saturday is Chinese. Only one crockpot meal was planned.

Cleaning. Eh? The basement where the kids do their work is probably the cleanest place in my house. Clothes washing (mine specifically is way behind) is piling up. The kids clean the kitchen nightly. Decluttering of the main floor is needed. I'd like to paint my living room but I think my husband would have a fit if I asked him at this time. However, I'm planning on treating myself to a new room color with the new year.

Work & Life Balance. Work has been great. I'm working on a new challenging project and was able to put in extra hours on Monday (thanks to my homehelper Rose) so I could be off work this Friday. I did treat myself to a lunch out with former co-workers which was nice. This is one of the benefits of working outside the home - I get outside the home to chat with other adults, lol!

Lesson Planning. This is ever changing but my system is slipping. I didn't get around to this until Sunday which is way too late. I had to make some adjustments as I just realized that the kids online English classes were ending.

Rest. Well...I got off to a bad start. I only got 4 hours sleep on Monday and Tuesday nights because I went to drop of cold medicine to my older kids who are in college. Wednesday I grabbed a power nap and dove in bed at 10pm (thanks to hubby taking over evening homeschooling). The rest of the week I got back into my rythm and since I had Friday off I got to sleep in til 9am, a lot later than my 4am wake up time.



Homeschooler Taking PSAT at Public High School

See this cute little 13 year old 9th grade homeschooling student? Well she visited our local Public High School today.

BENEFITS of Homeschoolers taking PSAT

Well I've had 2 kids go straight through high school in Public School. Taking the PSAT opened them up to the possibilities of scholarships.

Also, introduced them to colleges.

Lastly, it's great practice for the SATs.

And it's FREE (when taken through the public school system).

Things Never Go As Planned

BLUNDERS WE MADE THIS WEEK with PSAT Testing. Poor Tiger Lilly!

My Tiger Lilly. First of all, I waited to the last minute to confirm through our homeschool board. I thought I was on the list but the coordinator considered my daughter too young and didn't add her to the list. Luckily, they accomadated us at the last minute.

I also forgot to give my daughter her ID. Thankfully, they didn't call me for it and let her take the test since she was on their roster for Homeschoolers testing that day.

Lastly, didn't realize the test was so EARLY! Wow, public school starts at 7:10am in our area and the PSAT test was at 7:17am PROMPLY.

My late sleeper was totally put off by waking up so early to take a long test.

Not to mention - there was a Calculator hiccup. The new T-184 I purchased didn't come with batteries. So at 6:40 am I ran to the gas station to get AAA batteries for it. And...she didn't even get the chance to 'try it out' before the test.

Oh, and what else went wrong? I didn't have time to prepare breakfast, so the poor girl gobbled down a 'Lunchables' for breakfast with a big bottle of water.

Speed Racer...Math isn't going well for him. We are working on a Math Triage plan to get this boy to 'master' Long Division, Decimals and Fractions. You'd think with 2 curriculums it's covered - but I've uncovered the fact the my Speed Racer just writes down 'guestamits' for answers. He doesn't remember his multiplication or division facts cold (which is really needed in order to be succesful in Abeka Math or you will drown). 2 months of math wasted. Ugh. More on that plan for triage later.

THE REST OF OUR CRAZY WEEK

I don't know but there must have been a full moon or something. Nothing went as planned. We didn't finish all of our work scheduled - so we'll just move it to the weekend 'homework' category.

This week was almost a wash.

Monday, on Columbus Day, myself and Hubba went out on a date. Then we carted Tiger Lilly to cheerleading and Speed Racer to dance.

Let's just say - we got through most of the planned Abeka curriculum, but hardly much else. And even the Abeka curriculum suffered since we had some 'just do the work' days without watching the instructional videos. Unfortunately, this always comes back to bite the kids at test and quiz time.

It was really a scheduling problem. I didn't realize that Tiger Lilly taking the PSAT and me being off from work would initiate my kiddos not being motivated to do their daily routine of work.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

FYI: My hubba does the evening shift of instruction and his day starts later (around 7:30pm - 10:30pm where he does sports pickups and Abeka DVD box curriculum facilitation) He's the unsung hero in the house since he doesn't do blog or social media.

Lesson Planning. For the coming week I managed to plan out the lessons. Easy since I just moved 2 days of planned work to the coming week's schedule. I made some days lighter since Tiger Lilly is focusing on CLEP studying.

Meal Planning. Went well. I cheated a bit and purchased pre-made sauces for my crockpot planned dishes this week. Also did some frozen side items so I could just microwave things.

Cleaning. We did it! 1.5 of the bathrooms were cleaned. The main floor cleaned and the kids bedrooms. I have to admit, I didn't do any of that - Hubba managed the task on Saturday past. Me and the kids just maintained. I did start to wash clothes but the clean ones are piled up on the couch in our basement since I haven't been able to get too them. My kids this week seemed to be more playful so I sat between them and did some work.

Work and Life Balance. This is going well. Although my day job got more challenging, the hours aren't creeping into overtime. So I'm able to keep my schedule and flex my time. My part-time business is starting to require more of my time,but the good thing is I can do that while the kids are schooling with me and I am cooking dinner.

Sleep. Got tons more than I have before. Why? Well we had Monday off from work (both Hubba and I). Then Saturday - I declared it mom's sleep in day, and took the kids out of one of their martial arts classes that start at 9am (they didn't complain and I saved some $). I made it a point to take a 30 min power nap each day. Also, I was off on Wed (got to sleep til 6am when I'm usually up by 4am) - and yes, I took my 30 minute nap that day also. This week was great for me getting rest. I made myself do it.

Sleeping In - A HomeSchooling Working Momma's Advantage

See this little guy? Speed Racer? Yeah  - him. He is an insomniac that truly requires 10-12 hours sleep.

SLEEP!

When people ask me about homeschooling my kids - and pulling it off while working - they assume I wake these kiddos up early to get school done.

They sleep in.

Hubba sleeps in.

Although, that wasn't the plan originally. Hubba was supposed to wake the kids up at 7:30am, get them fed and start instruction at 8am. Didn't happen.

Why? Well because my Hubba is a night owl. Always has been. He would stay up until 4am-5am in the morning, watching TV or playing video games for as long as I've known him (and I've known him since he was 15yrs old). His family even told stories of how he would stay up until the TV went off with his grandfather.

MORE SLEEP!

So why would I think my kids would be different? So...Speed Racer's sleeping patterns is a most like his father's.

Tiger Lilly is my earlier riser, she typically goes to bed around 1-2am and wakes up at 10am (she sets her clock so she can eat and get started on her work in peace before Speed Racer gets up."

WAKE UP TIME

For Speed Racer, his sister Tiger Lilly wakes him up at 12pm. Yep, you heard me correctly - 12pm in the afternoon.

BENEFITS OF SLEEPING IN

This ability to go to bed at a natural time and wake up at a later time has been a MAJOR slice of improvement in Speed Racer's general mood and behavior.

It wasn't until I'd actually compared his current behavior with his grumpiness when he was in traditional school that I noticed the change.

Now don't get me wrong, he's still a typical Tween with challenges we have to work on, but his general mood about and response is more positive because - he gets proper sleep now.

WEEKLY WRAP UP

Report Card time! Yep, I create report cards for the kids at the end of each quarter so that they know how they faired. AND the tell me - momma and hubba what we need to do to improve their learning in their hardest subjects.

This week was a breeze! Why?

Hubba is back teaching evenings! Woot! That means that I am getting to bed by 10pm each night and a lot more is getting done.

Older sister Rose administered school one day this week which helped me to catch up on rest.

Speed Racer 6th Grader

He is really loving Spelling You See and Sequential Spelling as his new core spelling program. We are still going over and typing the Abeka spelling words into SpellingCity for fun but I am not testing him on the words yet.

SandiegoScribblers: It's turning out to be too much for Speed Racer. We are falling behind in this class and having to do it on the weekends. He is requiring a lot of help with this one.

Spanish we are using Mango Languages and learning words & phrases.

The Arts, we are still reading through our book A Child's Introduction to Art: The World's Greatest Paintings and Sculptures and using ArtTango.com for free drawing.

Math Lab we had to take a step back in Teaching Textbooks and are reviewing Fractions since Speed Racer isn't doing well with it. We are using IXL.com for extra practice.

Technology is going great. Tynker.com has proven to be a full program for Speed Racer and he still is working on it (he started mid summer). However, he has his eye on YouthDigital.com Mod design.

TypingWeb.com - is really improving his typing skills. He does 10 min of this a day and doesn't complain too much about it.

All other classes (Bible, Reading, Language, Penmanship, History and Science) he's doing with Abeka DVD and getting A's and B's - Woot!


Tiger Lilly Blended High Schooler

PSAT test planned for next week Wed (10/15) at the local high school. She will not be studying for this. I am hoping that all her CLEP prep and math + logic skills will help her.

CLEP review for English COMPOSITION CLEP is going well. She is reviewing the InstantCert flashcards, using IXL.com for grammar drills, and taking sample test with Peterson and REA. Her test scores this week were: 21 (REA) Day 1, 32 (Peterson) Day 3, and 42 (Peterson) Day 5.  The goal is to get to 55% or higher by her test date 10/27.

Japanese: She is going over the curriculum I created for her last year that is composed of Youtube Videos, Writing 1 time a week in the notebook the letter of the week I give her. Also using Mango Languages for voice play practice.

Python and Java Programming: She works on both daily but loves her Landry Academy class and uses CodeAcademy.com daily for practice. She got a A on 2 of her programming projects with Landry in Python. Also, she's finishing up YouthDigital.com Mod Design in a few weeks and I'll start her on Ktbyte.com

Critical Thinking & Logic: with Currclick is also one of her favorite classes. She creates these little movie like clips for her homework and works with other kids in the class. She's at a high B in this class.

Algebra 2 - Problems! with Factoring. She forgot what she learned in Algebra 1. So to Youtube we went. Found a great video that broke down factoring of squares. She failed her Algebra 2 test with Abeka and we called the teacher who walked her through her notes and worked out a problem with her. I let her retake the test and she scored a 90%

Physics and Chemistry - She is doing well in both of these and likes the Abeka DVD experiments the most. She walked me through some of the easy ones to explain her labs.

Humanities - She's just watching the Education-Portal videos on this. She's enjoying them for a soft prep.

American Gov't, US History and Economics - are all going well. She's liking taking them together and seeing the full perspective on history. However, when we get to 1877 in US History we will stop and focus on studying for the CLEP for US History 1 and switch from Abeka to Education-Portal.

WriteGuide.com and Time4Writing.com - She works on these combined about 3 days a week. She likes them both but for different reasons. The WriteGuide is for her Analysis of Literature to prepare her for that Clep and the Time4Writing is more grammar mechanics based so to her it's a full class. Both of these end at the end of October and she will be starting another writing program.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Totally behind the 8-ball this week since we traveled over the weekend. So Monday we had a microwave heat up meal that wasn't too popular. Tuesday I dashed out to the grocery store and we had great meals on Tue-Thu and Friday is Chinese.

Cleaning. We are saving all cleaning for everyone except the kitchen for Saturday. Hubba is feeling better and can help out now.

Work & Life Balance. This went well this week. The day gig is very flexible (except Monday I had to work late which is why Rose helping out was great). However, my side business had a deadline due that kept me up some nights working on. But it's a good diversion from homeschooling.

Lesson Planning. Again this week I only got 1 week of lesson plans done - BUT, the day gig gives me holiday's off so I hope to catch up next Monday. The block schedule is working out great though!

Rest. Back on schedule and I got 6 hours sleep on Mon night (also a quick nap that day since I had my home helper over). Tue I snuck in a 30 min power nap, then got 6 hours sleep that night. Wed and Thursday were great! Friday I wanted to crash. Even though the kids have activities on Saturday morning, I have cancelled them to allow myself and them Saturday mornings to sleep in.

The Qualities of an Innovator a Hero?

Did you know that I write? Novels about heroes. And I realized that with the talk of 'over active, non-controlled kids' we may be actually suppressing our future heroes and innovators. Or just those kids like mine  - the hyper, overactive thinkers that like to take risk.

I know that may seem far fetched, but as an Engineer by day, I'm telling you I work with some amazing people. People that today, would've been unacceptable to our 'modern school system'.

PEOPLE WHO ARE OR SEEM FEARLESS

Think back, research, really take a deep look a history. Those men that did the impulsive became great - even if it was for GOOD or otherwise.

King David - a boy, a tiny boy, who impulsively and fearlessly knocked out a giant that those before him couldn't.

Or those extreme sports athletes like Tony Hawk and others, let's be honest, an ordinary kid would NEVER attempt to jump those heights on a skateboard, or do flips and tricks on a snowboard.

Impulsiveness = Adventurous

So when you are working with your son or daughter that seem a bit out of control, bold, impulsive, does things that you just can't fathom - realize that you may very well be raising the next HERO.

This I'm writing for my little Speed Racer. You and my Razor Ray are my 'adventurous spirits' and I'm so happy to be your mom. You keep my mind sharp, my heart full, and my imagination constantly working.

MY WEEKLY WRAPUP for Homeschooling

This week nothing went as planned. That really bugs me because I am an obsessive organizer and planner. After a few deep breaths I figured it out.

WEEKLY WRAP UP

A SNAG.

Speed Racer, due to horsing around in his dance class, was asked to postpone his time on his 'dance crew'. (I know when he gets older he will cringe that I'm writing this but I figure other parents have the same challenges).

He took it hard, the first day, then we talked to him. He still is going to the dance lessons, but I've filled his 'social' time with a new sport - Tennis.

It was a bummer that this happened his birthday weekend. He tried to act like nothing happened with him and the other boy (the kids all tease each other, he participated also, but he's the noobie and has some rather quick witted words). Nonetheless, we think him sticking with breakdancing for fun and not competition fits him best. He needs to be occupied the entire time.

New curriculum we are trying.
Speed Racer's all to help his Spelling issue.

Spelling You See  - we started it this week and he really likes it. Surprise!
Sequential Spelling  - yes we are still doing this too, but he likes it because he doesn't have to study.
Abeka Spelling - only doing word introduction.

For Tiger Lilly she hates Spanish :-(  so Abeka Spanish is a gone. Replaced by:

Manga Languages - it was love at first sight - and FREE from our Library!
Japanese (remember this? She loves this language).
French (she has to learn some before her Mission Trip with Landry)

Tiger Lilly, is 'cramming' for her Composition CLEP. We are crossing our fingers since she will be taking this in 3 weeks.

She is using (1) IXL to practice her grammar (2) Instantcert & SpeedyPrep (3) REA & Peterson Test
When she can do a 56% or better on consecutive test then I'll know she's ready.

Unfortunately, due to her habit of drawing during her video lessons lately, her test and quiz grades dropped.

Now she has to get her 'class notes' for each day, signed off by me before she can move on to her next class. Not to mention, I will be sitting in the teacher chair to keep control of the (see below)


More Horsing Around!

I've had to move back to my 'teacher' chair smack in the middle of Tiger Lilly and Speed Racer in order to get our work done on time.

Note Taking is a must! So I had to put a RULE up on the wall to remind Tiger Lilly and Speed Racer.

Lately, they've been making jokes, throwing their stress balls (that I removed) and taking forever to get their work done.

Field Trip!

New York City here we go baby. Not! Had to cancel since Hubba is still recovering. So we gave out timeshare stay in Manhattan to my brother in law who lives in NY but is having home renevations.

Instead we are visiting friends in New Jersey for a sleep over where Speed Racer can play with my friend's 3 boys (a rough and tumble weekend). I am really happy I have friends with boys that my son can be rough with.

Since Hubba isn't feeling up to all the walking, we just relaxed and shopped at a few shops.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Yay me! I'm on a slow roll. Had to leave work early on Monday to go grocery shopping. We celebrated Speed Racer's birthday and went to dinner and a movie on Sunday - my food shopping day. Never fear! I still had some seasoned turkey and a few cans of cream of mushroom soup to make our crockpot dinner on Monday. The rest of the week went by (I only do dinner Mon-Thu since Friday is pizza day.)

Cleaning. Did not happen, but I did get some clothes cleaned. They are piled up on the couch waiting to be folded and put away. It will happen before Sunday. I promise.

Work & Life Balance. This is going okay. I did manage to get a lot of sleep over the weekend. Therefore, Monday and Tuesday were a breeze. However, fatigue caught up to me on Wed. since I gave Hubba the week off from evening schooling that he 'manages' uh, teaches. I love my field of work though and the job is working out well with my homeschooling schedule.

Lesson Planning. Still barely doing it on time. I tried to do 3 weeks in one sitting but that didn't happen. So, I will try again next week to do 2 weeks in 1 sitting. It takes 2 hours for each week of planning. Where am I going to find that?

Rest. Not too good. Taking over my husband's late shift for teaching meant only getting 4 hrs sleep a night. Yikes! On Wed. I didn't even get a quick nap in since I had a business meeting for a side endeavor.