Doing School At Night and Weekends

You Can Do School Whenever You Want

Yes, as a homeschooling parent, you can change it up and do school at odd hours, working it around when you and your kids are both home and able to sit down and do work together

Schedule Alternate Times For Schooling

As we worked outside the home, we had to make alternate schooling time work for our kids. Doing so meant we had to realistically spend sitting down and giving one child attention.

Changing up the subject to work with our kid on what they needed help on most was ideal.

Mix in times when the child should be doing independent work. Help them to build the ability to do independent work.

Let The Kids Sleep In

The best part of having the kids work on their schooling in the evening is they get to sleep until they wake up. If you work from home, letting the kids stay up late and sleep in gives you time to work in the morning while they are sleep. 

Weekend Only School

You could make school year around, but only do one-on-one school during the weekend and project based, movie based, independent study and exploration based during the weekdays.

Try It For A Change

Even if you had a day schedule, try out an alternative schedule to change things up and to give yourself and the kids a shake up. You may find that it works better for you.

We did night and weekend school for the entire time we homeschooled since both my husband and I worked, now my kids are still maintaining the schedule even though they are working and college. One child who was an early riser, still does so, she just does things she enjoys before getting to work.

BUY BOOK

SEEMINGLY UNPRODUCTIVE DAYS ARE NOT WASTED

HOMESCHOOLING, WORKING, REVIVE A BAD DAY

By the time the holiday’s roll around, most parents are a bit burned out by the hectic pace of managing parenting, schooling, work and more. Use your FREEDOM IN HOMESCHOOLING and be flexible on days and times of the school year that you need to re-ignite your love of managing it all.

First, give yourself permission to goof off a bit. Be thankful for the power you hold to be flexible. Find that freedom and use it wisely.

CHANGE UP LEARNING EXPECTATIONS AND METHODS OVER THE HOLIDAY

This time of year, we take it easy and redirect learning to more movie based, experience based, project based learning approaches. This allows us to lay around, watch videos, do craft projects, go on field trips
, notebook what we are learning, have deep discussions on topics of interest. Mainly, it’s about interest lead learning with the exception of math, reading and writing.

THINGS THAT DERAIL US

Moodiness, holiday burnout, lack of focus, and much more. Let's face it. Our home students have good days and DOG days. You know, they don't want to wake up. They argue with you for hours about how BORING the work is. They want to take tons of bathroom breaks and you want to scream. Sometimes you do. This is a sure sign, a redirection is needed.

IT's OKAY

Give yourself permission to just take a week off, heck the holiday’s off. Refocus and redirect what you are grateful and thankful for, but need to have a break from. When I have days like that at work, I leave early or I just don't go. Sometimes,  I even take a long lunch break just to get my head back in the game.

TAKE A SIESTA

Times like this. I give us all a 'timed' break. I set the alarm and tell the kids they can do anything BUT play video games or go outside. Usually, they just get a snack, watch a show, or read a book of choice. Me - I take a short nap.

Why? Well because if Mom's cranky, her kids know it and mom/teacher can't redirect when cranky.

MAKE UP DAY...

Sometimes the day is a totally wash. So...we make it up. I move the work and lesson to the following day. Or do school on a day I had plan to have no school.

SHORTEN THE LESSON

This is another secret weapon. On days where we have somewhere to go, the kids are not engaged, or I'm too distracted to do an entire lesson. We shorten it. I don't do their DVD teaching section, I teach the new subject myself to the student. Or we don't do every homework practice problem or even cut our any of our electives for that day.

REMIND YOURSELF TO BE THANKFUL and CREATE A LIST FOR ALL TO SEE

Remembering why we are doing all we do is a good way to ignite passion back into a hectic schedule that is compounded by holiday expectations. Thanksgiving seems to come at the right time. Include the kids in the creation of a Be Thankful board that you place on your walls, in your room, on your refridgerator to remind you just how much you have to be thankful for, then tell your kids just how much you are thankful for a particular trait or action they did to make you happy. Words have power and using them to get ourselves on track is a great way to prepare for the holidays ahead.

By LM Preston, www.empoweredsteps.com and www.lmpreston.com blog: homeschoolandwork.blogspot.com/  

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX CAREER RE-IMAGINATION

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX CAREER RE-IMAGINATION 

By LM Preston

As a working parent, I’ve had to make my career as fluid as possible, especially when we decided to homeschool our kids while working outside of our home. It meant taking a broad look at both of our careers and being willing to delve into new branches of that career or even something entirely different. 

IT ALL STARTS WITH A SEARCH Once I realized I needed to change the focus of my career to be more flexible, I started searching on job boards for careers that allowed remote work within my field. It opened my eyes to many jobs I’d never considered before. It also revealed that a previous job skill I had developed while in college would be a great transition to a flexible position while homeschooling and working. 

REPURPOSING YOUR SKILLS I had many hobbies and side businesses that I considered something I did for fun. Even raising my kids and running my household had task I had cultivated into skills that helped me in these side businesses. Those experiences I quantified into a job description. Management of a home had many of the same skills as a Project Manager, Office Manager and Home Health Aid. The only difference was the title of the job. Skills that I had taken for granted, I started to see them in a different light. From the assessment I built a new skills list that allowed me to expand the experiences I had listed on my resume. 

THE JOB SEARCH
It all starts with the resume. After researching jobs in the area of change, I verified my skills against those positions, then created a resume for the set of jobs in the category I was wanted to pursue to add a flexible work schedule to my career path. Then I set out to apply to twenty jobs a week without scrutinizing whether I personally thought I matched all the desired points on the job description. That, I left up to the employer. My job was to apply and see what happened. 

GET THE TRAINING NEEDED TO RE-IMAGINE MY CAREER
When I observed the openings in the career path I was set to change, I realized I needed to learn a particular product in order to update my skills. After spending two intense weeks on YouTube and Udemy, I read the book on the software and started interviewing. 

INTERVIEW WITH CONFIDENCE
Before interviewing, do some practice mock interviews with friends, and ask for their honesty. Then study up on all the material listed in the job description and do a self-mock interview and record your responses. Practice makes perfect. 

TAKE A CHANCE and HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR ABILITY TO RE-IMAGINE YOUR CAREER. 

My new book, Homeschooling and Working While Raising Amazing Learners releases on August 7th, 2019. Please pick of a pre-order copy here, and join a free course on Kickstarting Homeschooling and Working www.EmpoweredSteps.com
By LM Preston www.EmpoweredSteps.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empoweredsteps/ 

Nothing Ever Goes as Planned

Momentum Slows Down ~ But We have All Year

To Get it Done

The last two weeks, we did the bare minimum. Not a bad deal since we are just beginning the school year.

We did have a small vacation and I didn't want to monitor homeschool work during it, so, we relaxed and just enjoyed.

Dungeons and Dragons is now the popular game in the house. Only issue is my Tiger Lilly had grown tired of being the Dungeon Master and requested that I learn to do it. O_o doesn't she know I am a working parent?! The other homeschool parents bailed on the 'learn to be a DM' so, for her, I'll do it.

My son's Paddling season is coming to an end. This was a canoe expedition they went on where they did open water switches of paddlers.

Speed Racer on Paddling Team Distance Run

Then, while at the store, waiting for my daughter to get out of the dressing room, a nice lady gave this to me. Boy, oh boy did it make my day! A wink from God is sometimes needed.

The note was beautiful and reminded me that Jesus loves me. Wow! Made me check that frown I had for sure.

KIDS PROGRESS

SPEED RACER's starts of in good shape.This is a 2 week review because, hey, we got off track. The first week, he only finished his College Biology Class and Biology Labs (that is an online class by the way). He likes science way more than I anticipated.

Homeschool Classes:
Investing: We've only watched 2 Youtube videos in the series and haven't started the Cashflow game yet.

-Our stock watching has become depressing since our stock dropped. We view it with an app called Robinhood. 

Recreational Pilot License Training: He wants to get this next summer so we are adding it into his curriculum.

-He didn't do the videos or quizzes this week.

Black History: We are deep diving into specific events like Black Wall Street and Pilots that have to do with our subjects.

-  We didn't do the videos I purchased this week.

Astronomy: Something he wants to explore.

- Didn't get to these.

Bible Review: We are doing this together with videos.

- Watched two videos from the Bible video series we found on Youtube.

Cooking and Car Repair: The cooking I am letting him build his own recipes and prep dinner. Car Repair, he is helping his father and brother fix our cars. Oil Changes, Brake Pad changes, etc.

- He only cooked one day each week.
- Car Repair - he reviewed video on changing the oil.

PE: Distance Canoe Team, Martial Arts and Breakdancing.

- Practiced with Distance Canoe Team - See the distance race above, that's the end of season run.
- Martial Arts - practiced two times each week.
- Breakdancing - had a performance (stay tuned, I'll post when I get it)

JavaScript and Unity 3D Programming: A Saturday small class with a teacher that meets from 8am til 1:30pm. All other kids are public school kids.

- Didn't go since he had Paddling.

College Classes
4 Weeks into Biol 101 and Biol 102 (lab)
1 week Info Sys in Org - Started 1 class this week

Biology with Lab (Aug to Oct)
-Finished class discussions
-Finished Week 3 of 8 class Labs
-Finished Week 3 of 8 quiz

Information Systems in Organizations (Sept to Nov)
-Finished intro discussion
-Finished Assigned Reading
-Reviewed interactive Learning Activity
-Completed Quiz1


Introduction to In-depth Research (Sept to Oct)
Advanced Business Writing (Oct to Dec)
College Algebra (Oct to Dec)


TIGER LILLY the Homeschool Graduate with a BS Degree, now Working on MS Degree

Her new job is flying her to SanDiego, CA for two-day training.

Problem is, she is only 17 yrs old and can't rent a car. So...hubs is going with her since I can't take off work (I also get lost a lot).

She starts her GRAD-SCHOOL class in two weeks. 

Also, she spent the last two weeks playing video games. She just finished Spiderman and Gods of War.

WORK and HOME BALANCE Working and Homeschooling 

MEAL PREP: We bombed on this the last two weeks. Fast food and junk. Only 2 meals were made by Speed Racer and one by Tiger Lilly.

HOUSE CLEANING: I got those kiddos cleaning in exchange for video game play. Only my room isn't clean (oops). 

LESSON PLANNING: I am so behind on this, it's not funny. I started mid week and we just tried winging it, hence why we weren't as productive. 

MARRIAGE CHECKUP: We needed that vacation. Just saying, we left the kids and went on long walks and had some fun.

SELF CARE: I used my husband's foot massager and back massager, both gifts my kids bought HIM and not ME .

Mishaps and Mayhem

I am the ANGRY BIRD

Yep, this week I won't go into the play by play (saving it up for next week). However, I will just list some of the mishaps of this week so that it is obvious that my household goes crazy quite often.

Someone purposelessly 'lost' their quiz.

Another kiddo procrastinated on finishing test by two days.

One young adult lost driving privileges because they turned off their cellphone

We had some team slippage in work on the Hackathon team (Tiger Lilly took on extra work)

Dinner wasn't planned and ended up short one night (McDonald's filled in - yuck)

No exercise was done for the Family Fitness challenge - by no one

Oh, and someone kept falling asleep in the living room, even though they have a TV in theirs.

And that sums up our week. Stay-tuned for the full picture next week.

How To Pace Yourself So Burnout No More

I hear it all the time from my homeschooling momma's not so much from the dad's because they keep it to themselves, and from my working momma's

I am BURNED OUT or I am STRESSED OUT

It's because they forget one simple thing. SCHEDULE your time in.

HOMESCHOOLING WITHOUT BURNOUT

This is something that I have to take extra time to consider. As a working mom, I sometimes try to 'over' compensate for not being home all the time with my kids, that taking time out for myself seems selfish.

However, with the freedom of homeschooling and a supportive spouse, I can make sure I get my time in. I also schedule in my husband's personal time with me alone without the kids.


THE SCHEDULE is where IT BEGINS

I do Weekly planning for the kids. I plan out their day and their subject.

I also PLAN IN MOM TIME and have the kids trained to do self absorbed activities during that time. I only give myself 1 hour every other day.

Example:
Mon/Wed/Friday = 1 hr of my time to spend having a nap
Mon/Wed/Friday = 1 hr of my kids doing online interactive learning / playing a video game or doing something fun during their 1 hr break

Sat = Marraige time. My husband and I go on a 'date night' or have a 'movie night with food and snacks in our room or basement'. The kids know not to bother us during that time.

TRAIN YOUR KIDS TO RESPECT YOUR TIME

My kids respect that they have to give mom time. We have a TIMER set up that marks my time and over the years, they have come to learn to respect it. I give them a *Gift* when they do.

TAKE ON AN OUT OF THE HOUSE HOBBY or PART TIME JOB YOUR LOVE

I get out of the house one time a month for a Meetup.com event to either paint or work with other authors.

My girlfriend is a SAHM and found a part-time job as a Cake Decorator. She loves the work and the people at her job that she said it makes making money fun, gives her a get out the house card, and funds some of her kids school materials.

STAYCATIONs

Also, since I love to write, I do STAYCATIONS. I wake up two hours earlier than everyone on the weekend and go out on my backyard, sit at my table and start to write as the sun comes up.

It's a wonderful time alone for reflection, reading and quiet.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

Make a place in your home that is your 'spot'. Create and schedule in your time alone to refresh. Give your spouse the same courtesy. My husband gets to rest, watch TV, walk outside as soon as he gets home from work since I am usually already in the house. I get my time in the night time after dinner when he is ready to take over instruction for the kids.

For our Weekend date nights, we try to get a babysitter and usually switch off with our friends.

Flying and Overnights at the Polynesian Center! Hooray!

This Was The Best Idea Ever!

Yes, I am loving my new home. Love the wonderful things I can do with my kids and new experiences. Flying Planes! Overnights at the Polynesian Center and Sea Life Parks. Hooray!

Speed Racer's first Flying lesson. The boy even landed the plane. His pilot teacher told him he was a natural. 

Then they had an overnight campout with their dad at the Sea Life Park where the leading man worked in the movie FIFTY FIRST DATES.

And...just this week, we went spent the night at the Polynesian Cultural Center and it was fantastic. All these great get togethers were coordinated by our homeschool group moms. Amazing women to put together these customized homeschool adventures.

Speed Racer volunteering for acting out story telling at the Polynesian Center.

BACK TO THE GRIND of planning next school year.

Yepper, that's what I've been doing this week. I was looking at a program called Dual Credit At Home since I tried putting together a program for my older students and JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME. 

So, a friend of mine is thinking of going in half with me.

Speed Racer's plan is basically going to be Abeka, some Landry Academy classes (redo of Alg 1) and Study.com for this year to orientate him with the subjects to be covered the following year. But the following year, I am considering just having him do Dual Credit At Home for CLEPs and DSST test. Both colleges we are considering accept the tests.

Tiger Lilly, will take her college courses and a few Landry and Digipen classes. I'm also looking for an in person Japanese tutorial school here since it is like the 2nd language here. This summer she is taking Java Programming 2 with the college and Calculus as a homeschooling course to prepare her for the college course this Fall.

TVs in the BEDROOMS

I am allowing the kids to have TVs in their bedrooms now. However, they are not hooked up to cable television but we are using a ROKU device for them to access netflix and hulu. 

School Work in Bedrooms

It's come a time where I had to separate them. Speed Racer is a constant distraction to Tiger Lilly. So I installed camera's in Tiger Lilly's room to make sure she stays on task. And Speed Racer is stuck at the dining room table or portable desk I have set up for him in the living room until he is finished his work.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

Speed Racer can't finish the projects for two of his Landry classes. Sheesh! The items have been lost in shipping or we just can't find them. I won't spend the $200 for supply replacement. Therefore, he will just watch the videos, do the reading and the questions for chapters in Electricity and Robotics He did 2 assignments over the last two weeks in his Scratch.

Finally finished 2 weeks worth of work in his 5 Paragraph Writing Class.

Getting through Algebra 1 with good scores. Basic Math review with CTCMath on Fractions - something it seems like the kid keeps forgetting.

Membean he has recovered some of his word recognition loss. Making good leeway with Python Programming.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler

Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

The college courses are challenging. I  had to hire her a tutor for Pre-Calc.  The teacher in this class isn't very helpful and the school doesn't offer tutoring other than peer tutor service that is hit or miss. We dropped the Pre-Calc College class and are reviewing Pre-Calc using CLEP Professor and working with the tutor. Tiger Lilly will retake that class the 1st half of summer.  We agreed that if she wanted to drop the class, she had to use the time before the re-take to study and prepare. Also, we went on 'Rate My Professor' and researched the summer online course teacher better. The one Tiger Lilly had, actually got a 'D' score from students. (Epic Fail on mom's part).

She is doing well with her Professional Writing Class and I check her homework assignments. Economics took awhile to get the hang of. She is passing the test with B's instead of the D she made the first week which freaked her out.

The Landry courses is slow going. I asked them to stop grading her for the course. It's alright because I will take over the grading of the topic for her. She is frustrated she can't participate in the live classes do to our timezone change. C Programming she is now on the #2 program of the 3 she was behind, but she keeps slipping further. PC Pro is caught up with quizzes and video viewing. Unfortunately with Japanese we are to a point of frustration with how far behind we are. I am going to find a school for her in person to work on it.

The Relational Database design using Udemy and SQLZoo is easy to her and I believe she will do well in this class this fall semester.


WORKING PARENT's LOG


Meals are on a roll. We are now making veggie and fruit smoothies daily so the kids get in their vitamins. It's also helped me as a meal replacement for dinner. I pre-made cut the fruit and placed in the freezer. Also, pre-made dinner and tried some new recipes. Hubby's here and he's been prepping dinner for me. I am going to miss that when he starts back at work on Monday.

Cleaning. Well we have been making up our beds daily, easy to clean until another shipped box shoes up at our door that we have to unpack. Ugh!

Work & Life Balance. Finally, things have calmed down at the day gig. Love the new job though. The work really gives me a good diversion from things I have to do at home. And I get in 2 - 15 minute walks as well as a 30 minute lunch break with some work friends. I enjoy having the juggle of both work and home. It gives me and hubby tons to talk about. Also, ways to meet new friends.

Lesson Planning. On track these weeks, but it's our Spring schedule and not as hectic. Since we are back to doing year around school, I won't get a complete break from this.

Rest. I am sleeping like a baby, now that hubby is here and reminding me to go to sleep at a decent hour, lol! And he is helping with homeschooling.  

Marriage Check Up. These last weeks have been wonderful since hubby is here. We try not to bicker as much since we still remember how much we missed each other. But we haven't resumed date night every week since the kiddos are hogging up dad's free time for video game playing and sight seeing.

Inspiring The Little Peeps

Trying To Inspire Learning Can Be a Challenge

I have tried to inspire learning in my kids. Really push them to try new things. But I got to tell you, somedays I want to throw in the towel...until I see that even though they hymmed and hawed, nashed their teeth, cried and complained, that they do absorb things. Even when they don't want to.

Can't Be A Perfect Parent - But I try To Be the Best I Can

Even though our kids are a work in progress - I feel that I am too. Being a parent has pushed me beyond my personal limits to love another human more than I even thought possible. As angry and frustrated as they may get me sometimes, their love for me overflows my soul. I am learning more about myself by being a parent then any other experience in life. I know without being a mom - I would've been a different person in the end.

This Weekend Fun? 

I planned to go out with my girlfriend, pack up and throw out stuff that isn't going with us to Hawaii, entertain our Real Estate Agent who will tell us if we can 'break even' on the sale of our house in the coming months, and take the kiddos to Be A Coder and Girls Who Code.

The Last Few Weeks were Great - until today. But We Survived.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

For the last few weeks he has had good days and some bad days. I decided to cut out 2 of his classes (American Government and Economics). He got about 65% of the lessons done in each subject, but it was just becoming difficult to keep up since mom's workschedule got hectic.

I also don't allow him to do his work if dad or I aren't home. The quality of his work has dropped when we allowed him to do work without us and the computer time work wasn't be finished in totality. So we took a step back to readjust.

It seems while homeschooling, kids, like adults, go through phases where they are on top of things, and times when they don't feel like doing anything.

Nonetheless, his work quality improved in English, Grammar and Spelling , Biology, History. And he is taking Indian History and History of the Avengers which are 1 day classes with Currclick. I signed him up for a 5 Paragraph Writing Class, a 3-week class, with FunCation Academy which he enjoyed, but hated writing the paper. Time4Writing he is doing completely independent of me because he told me he didn't want me help, so I gave him some leeway. I don't think he will finish all the assignments by the time the 9 week course period will end. But I won't extend it.

Speed Racer has been doing well on his quizzes and test with Abeka Algebra 1, and Teaching Textbook lab on the when I get home. Unfortunately he dropped the book and I can't find anyone to re-bind the darn thing. We are still liking  CTCMath for practice for last. I contacted FunCation for a Math tutor, Spanish tutor and English tutor which I may use in the Spring for a few weeks to give Speed Racer some 1 one on one time. And if it works out, I will incorporate them into his Fall semester.

Membean is creeping up in time since now he does 25 minutes of practice a night. He is doing rather well with Python Programming with Code Academy and is grumbling whenever he has to do IXL for Language.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler

Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

Transferring to University of Maryland, University College (UMUC) because it is completely online. Since we are moving to Hawaii some time next year, I don't want to worry about transferring credits. We can keep her in UMUC until she finishes her degree. UMUC is VERY homeschool friendly.

She is in a groove for her two favorite classes US History 1 and Psychology at the Community College. Her Software Application's class is her least favorite of the Community college classes because she has to go to the lab for help.

So...she is now taking 2 UMUC classes. They are 8 week courses in Foundations of Oral Comm and Intro Prob Solving Alg Design (which is C Programming but a required course for the major she wants). She is liking the format of these online classes much more than the Community College course.

The Landry courses, she is maintaining A's in C Programming, PC Pro and Japanese.  I was rather frustrated with Landry calling me about owing them tuition when I already paid them and had to provide proof of payment by emailing them a copy of the checks they cashed. However, their teachers are great - even if their Administration team is a bit off kilter.

Tiger Lilly is still doing JavaScript . She didn't turn in her artwork for her Animation Course. She claimed, she was too busy, lol!

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals I got off to a good start. Then I bombed and ordered Chinese food and stopped by Taco Bell mid week. Then I made up my hiccup by baking a cake.

Cleaning. I hate washing clothes! There I said it. And guess what else, we had to go to the LaundryMat because I didn't want to spend my entire weekend off washing clothes. So we knocked out 14 loads of clothes in 4 hours.

Work & Life Balance. Is cranking up. Lots of extra hours which has caused me to cut back on Speed Racer's work because I am getting home later some days. Thankfully, hubba can work from home or go in late so we are able to get at least some work done.

Lesson Planning. I am doing bad with keeping up on this. I have got to stop waiting til the last minute.

Rest. None this week. Barely 4 hours a night. 

Marriage Check Up. We had an argument over my hubby's hoarding tendencies which will make this packing ordeal painful. So we 'suggested' a date night and went out to eat.

And It All Came Crashing Down

IT'S BEEN ONE OF THOSE MAD WEEKS

Where everything goes to pot, and you feel like you are losing your mind.

BUT....

I will recover, I did recover?

Well Maybe.

Why is it when you have a few good weeks, heck months, BAM! Something comes along and throws you off your 'A' game. You stumble, scream, jump up and down, then try to get back on steady ground.

Well, that's just life,and it wouldn't be half as exciting without all the drama, but darn, I hate drama.

So let's just give a tally of all the good stuff that happened to set off all the not so great stuff.

'WE ARE MOVING TO HAWAII!' Yeah, we are. It's one of my husband's bucket list items and we figured we would do it when we can both transfer with our companies to work there.

Then this happened:

1) Razor Ray and Rose Siblings got into a Loud - In - Your - Face Argument O-o
2) Tiger Lilly concealed she'd failed a test in her college math class because she hadn't been checking her homework.
3) Speed Racer has been having a VERY Disrespectful mouth and attitude that came to a head during a homeschool session where he ended up punished, and drove mom to yelling.
4) Mom found out she had high blood pressure (that's a surprise)
5) Mom's job had a snotty boss became a monster with a micro-management feast to the 10th degree and caused me to want to YELL at him too (but I kept my cool -which is another reason why #4 may have happened)
6) Thought my hubby got the job in the location of our #1 choice - but they cancelled the interview when they realized it was for Hawaii
7) Speed Racer slipped into a tantrum. I mean REALLY at 12 yrs old? I thought we were 10 months over that? Guess not.
8) Tiger Lilly will have to change Colleges for her Dual Enrollment - oh, but it will only set us back about $1K a year (eek!)
9) Mom had to work late a lot these last few weeks which made our workload more lax but caused Speed Racer to decide he didn't want to pick up the pace again.
10) Mom had to do a sleep apnea study, just because I have a bit of a snoring problem. That's what I get for having a physical after 6 years.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

It has been a horrible few weeks. BUT (this week has been better) Getting through school has been a major chore and biting, nashing of teeth through the smart, sassy comments, and comebacks. It has gotten progressively worse the last 2 weeks.

He barely finished viewing and taking notes on his Classroom DVDs with the Abeka curriculum for English, Grammar and Spelling , Biology, History, Economics and American Government he barely did the 'homework' and seatwork for each class.

We dropped Saxon. He started Abeka Algebra 1, with a Teaching Textbook lab on the weekend in Algebra 1 and CTCMath for remediation and practice of basic math facts.

Time4Writing is in gear and he's doing 'OK' and we both know it's not his best work. Membean is puttering a long, he doesn't complain about it. In Techrocket is going well, although, he basically is cutting and pasting the code, which is alright for now with Python Programming.

At least we survived without hurting each other.

TIGER LILLY (age 14 yrs) the Dual enrolled High Schooler

Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

I even yelled at her this week.  Yep, when I found out she lied about her failing grade last week. This week, we are working towards a solution or back up plan.

So far she's doing good in C Programming, PC Pro and Japanese and loves Landry's teachers.

The Community College courses were going great until her 'B' in College Math dropped to failing grade. The professor told her she could bring it up if she past the final. So we are waiting to see what her next test looks like before we drop the class. Her Software Application's class is where she had another slip up. She forgot to do an assignment it and bought her high grade down to a 'C'. Her US History 1 course and Psychology, are holding on to their high numbers.

Tiger Lilly is doing well with Unity 3d and practicing Java. Her Animation Course started and she's liking it. I already see an improvement, even though she was already rather good.

And I registered her for University of MD, University College online classes...
They take homeschoolers (Yay!)

Several reason
1) The Community College doesn't have online computer science courses and Tiger Lilly said she isn't ready to take more live classes.

2) Since we are moving, she won't be able to get her AA degree from the Community College, so we decided to just let her work away at her BS online which would graduate her at 18 yrs old with just taking 2-3 classes a semester for the next few years.



I need a massage, warm bath, and some wine.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals.I cooked, but went on strike the weekend. I refused to purchase fast food, and they complained. So...they pitched in and cooked. Hunger works that way.

Cleaning. It has not happened at the level I'd like it, so I stepped over the clutter and piled it up to put away this weekend.

Work & Life Balance. Crazy these last few weeks. But I'm treating myself to every other Friday off, which means I have to work two 12 hour days every other week. Also, the job had an emergency shut down so...I went to lunch with my oldest daughter, Rose, and invited two great friends. My daughter really enjoyed them and I enjoyed the Indian Food we had. Yum!

Lesson Planning. Slipped up and had to do it on Monday - yikes!.

Rest. Well, sorta, I have a problem of staying up way too late and waking up entirely too early. However, I did get 7 hours sleep most days.

Marriage Check Up. We love each other, even when we aren't at our best.Now we missed our hang out date time the last 2 weeks.

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.

Two Week Crunch

The benefits of a break.

Our TWO WEEK CRUNCH update

Well last week my two younger kids had school.

Substitute Teacher, sister Rose, and schoolbus driver Razor Ray took care of the kids while...

Da...Da..Da...

Mom and dad went on vacation! Yep! Vacation.

We did Facetime with the kids and my older two children were excellent. They didn't even have to call in the grandparents for backup.

Since both my hubba and I recently started new jobs, this trip was a treat for us. But there was a price to pay for it. This past week, we both had to work overtime hours to make up for hours taken that didn't cover the paid vacation hours we'd earned.

So...Substitute Teacher sister Rose, finished out the week of instruction.


OTHER SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE WEEK

It was a light schedule this week since SPEED RACER, my 6th grader, is in Circus Camp for the week.

Tiger Lily had a light schedule, only requiring her to do her online classes with Landry Academy and WriteGuide, while completing her computer interactive electives on CodeAcademy.com and Algebra 2 Teaching Textbooks (our Math Supplement).

SOCIALIZATION STARVATION

Well I noticed that after a summer filled with over 7 weeks of day camps, sleep away camps, weekend meetups and playdates, my kids are going through ... WITHDRAWAL.

Yep, both of them mentioned the following about having a two weeks of homeschool.

Tiger Lilly, "I'm so lonely now. After a summer full of friends and playing, I only have two bff's to play with online for Minecraft."

 * So what did I do...

- Reminded her that Cheerleading starts full steam this coming week
- Signed her up for a MineCraft play area with Scrafty Homeschool Minecraft to give her online friends to play Minecraft with in a safe environment.
- Showed her the calender of several Homeschool Tween and Teen meetups we are going to

- Lastly, I am leading up a Teen Writing Meetup to meet monthly and encourage the teens to write and converse online.

As for Speed Racer's Socialization Withdrawal

- Scheduled more Tween Meetups
- Signed up for library Minecraft club that meets 2 times a week
- Scheduled playdate visits with his friends from soccer, street dance and jujitsu.
- Found an online group for homeschoolers near my home that meet monthly for playdates (a boys only group).
- Boyscouts - checking it out as a way for him to meet and play with other boys.

PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND

Camping! Then a day at Kings Dominion where we have season's passes. Just my Hubba and our two youngest kids, Speed Racer and Tiger Lilly. We have to get used to it just being them that we have to entertain the majority of time.

WORKING PARENT TIDBIT

Next week will be the first week I don't have my at home helper, Sister Rose. Rose and Razor Ray are moving onto college campus.

Things I will do to prepare for the week of working while homeschooling:

- Prep meals for  the week that can be put in (1) Crockpot or the (2) Oven Meals
- Plan Schedule (block schedule) with online interactive items that Tiger Lilly and Speed Racer can do in the morning and with my new 'homehelper' that starts Monday - 3 hrs a day between when dad leaves for work and mom returns home
- Fill workboxes for the week (we use Sue Patrick's workbox method)
- Clean the house (it won't get a serious cleaning again til next Sat. morning)

THAT's All for this week. And it doesn't even feel like I had a vacation all alone with Hubba where all we did was sleep, lay on the beach and rest.