Recipe for Selecting The Best Curriculum For Your Child

There is a recipe for selecting the best possible curriculum for your child, but it may not be what you think it is.

When you first start homeschooling, the task of selecting a curriculum is overwhelming. Take a deep breath and realize that what works for one child may not work for your child - or you as a working parent.

THE RECIPE

Learning Style is a big part of finding a compatible curriculum for your child. However, you can still use curriculum that may not fit perfectly by overlapping exposure to a subject by reinforcing the topic with the child's learning style for presentation.

The child's attention span. This is where traditional school really misses the mark. Take the time to learn your child. Observe how many minutes that they can actually be engaged in focused attention for audio, visual, read, and interactive information. Then keep that number to find realistically how much time your child can focus in spurts.

Gaps in learning can stagger a students progress. Identify the learning gaps in order to find a curriculum that can fill in and reinforce those knowledge gaps.

OTHER GOT TO's

Personality Type plays heavily in learning, ability, interest and ways to communicate. Have fun and learn yours and your family's personality types to understand how best to work with one another, to understand challenges that may arise between siblings or even you and your child. It is a way to identify how best to work and encourage healthy relationships between your child and you.

Love language of your child is important. Learning how your child needs to receive affirmation from you as the parent. This is the extra topping on building a great relationship with your child.

Your availability for one-on-one time. If it is limited, you may have to find curriculum that will do most all the teaching, and you will be the follow up (sort of like helping child with homework). To do that successfully, filling in the gaps and meeting your child's learning style needs makes a big difference.

Have you taken one of the courses yet?

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/ 

The Power Of Rest

When you are a working and homeschooling parent, it's especially hard to make time for yourself to get rest. It's not about just your rest, but also about your family rest time.

HAVE A STANDARD RESTING HOUR

Plan to take a moment to be quiet, to sit and think, to nap. This is something we did a lot when our kids were all young. We had family nap time. Now, it's easy to forget to do that when kids are involved in activities outside the home. We have made it a point to do this weekly now. Usually, on the weekend, we have a set hour where we just nap or be quiet in our own spaces. It has kept us revitalized.

• Sneak in a power nap while taking kids to activities
• Do a family nap time daily
• Create a quiet space for yourself in the house
• Trade off a nap time with your spouse
• Let the kids know you need a nap too
• Let the kids sleep in
• Put them to bed early

MAKE SURE YOU GET AT LEAST 7 HOURS OF SLEEP

I prided myself on not requiring much sleep. I could keep going on 4 hours sleep each day for at least five days. However, when I started trying to lose weight, I found I only had success the weeks that I had at least 6 to 8 hours of rest. This was eye opening. Then I did research that validated my discovery. Parents need at least 6 to 8 hours, but our kids need more. Kids should have 9 to 10 hours sleep. So if your kid wants to sleep in all the time, let them, make up the work at other times, but for their health, let them rest.

WATCH FOR SIGNS FOR FATIGUE

This isn't just about the parents, we know when we are tired. Usually, we also need to think about the amount of coffee we are consuming. For kids, this is especially important. We need to be watchful of signs that they are tired. Older kids suffer from this just as much as younger ones. Many times my kids would stay up all night playing video games and can't seem to get up to be productive. It's because they needed rest. In those instances, I just let them rest, but locked up the video games the next few days to get them back on schedule.

SELF CARE

Remember, if you are going to be a working homeschooling parent, a wife, a parent, and all the other things we seem to take on, you deserve some self-care time. Schedule it in, make it a priority. It will be part of the reason that you can successfully keep doing it all.

What do you do to get rest?

Stumbling Along and Still There is Progress

HOW THE TIME FLIES and STILL I WONDER 

IF I AM DOING THIS RIGHT.

Speed Racer our first Year

Both Speed Racer and Tiger Lilly Now

Two WEEKS in REVIEW

I've been rather lax in daily accountability, but the kids are doing fairly well with a few days here and there of slacking.

My oldest got engaged and we are now in the beginning phase of wedding planning. We had many friends and family illness so attending to that has put a damper on our energy.

The kids are involved in several collaborative efforts regarding state legislation and political awareness.

SPEED RACER's Progress

Added two new courses (1) Quill (Language/Writing) and (2) Knowre (Algebra 1 practice)

Overall we've finished a lot of curriculum. He's been working mostly independent but falling behind on subjects that I don't do Daily Status Checks on regularly.

He has a lot of MATH review to get him prepped for the College Math Clep I hope he will be ready to tackle in May. His Math includes, Algebra 1 review, College Math (working with tutor and Acellus) and basic math fact review. He is actually pretty darned good at Algebra 1 and Geometry and rarely if ever uses a calculator for his problems. He is getting high 90s and is progressing well.

English and Writing are some of the major areas we need tuning. His Time4Writing stint is almost over and I will be using Quill and Egump for language arts tuning as well as LifePac. Also, we are starting to do weekly Writing Prompts that we will work through weekly. That's planned for this coming week. He hates writing so I am prepared to negotiate

For History he is using Acellus and is doing well, hopefully, he will be able to retain it for when he starts to study for the CLEP. He is doing Coding with Java with Acellus and in person at a local computing lab, and using Instantcert to study for the DSST Computing Exam. He has to make at least 80% on the practice exams in order to be ready and now he is only making 50s, so we have a way to go.

Bible, Reading and Logic are both being covered with dad so they are having some great conversations and starting to develop an enjoyment for the same types of books.

TIGER LILLY's Progress

After dropping two classes due to incompatibility with the teachers, Tiger Lilly only had 2 college classes until October.

She is doing well in her college classes that remain. Tiger Lilly is working on her micro-company website and blog. Also, building up her product list for sell. Her sister Rose is helping and they are collaborating to have a big launch in May of next year.

Tiger Lilly and her sister are now taking Adult Ballet classes (I scheduled it in order for them to have a hobby they could do together and it's working).

The in person Blender and Unity 3D class Tiger Lilly is taking is fun and she hopes to continue after the fall.

WORK and HOME BALANCE

Working and Homeschooling 

MEAL PREP: I've been on a roll these last few weeks. I prepped meat, seasoned it and we had fun and interesting dinners. I am tired though and was slipping this last week.

HOUSE CLEANING: It's been tidy, but cluttered. We didn't get around to cleaning our own rooms, but the kids cleaned the common areas and it lasted oh, about two days.

LESSON PLANNING: Only taking me an hour, but did it at the last minute on Monday mornings and had to email it to the kids.

MARRIAGE CHECKUP: We were able to go out alone two times in the last few weeks. Then we took a nap when the older kids took their siblings out.

SELF CARE: I am doing a decent job at exercising now. I sneak it in while I am at home with the kids in the evening and checking their work.

Successful Teamwork

THE FINISH LINE

For My Kiddos and Friends

HACKERTHON Contest

This is their video submission of their web application. The team of my 19 yr old Rose, my 15 year old Tiger Lilly and their friends 13 yr old and two 12 yr olds was a great success.

My 19 yr old Rose was the team lead, and they other kids were the front end developers while Rose worked on setting up the Web Server, the MySQL database and writing the code to do the logic for the webpage.

Two in a half weeks of work and they have an operational product.

EMPOWERED

Web Application for Disabled Citizens to create a Video Resume to share with their case workers.
The girls (Tiger Lilly and Rose) wore matching headbands the day of the final check-in.

The girls wore matching headbands since we had to go into the final check-in meeting. And ta da da...

THEIR TEAM MADE IT TO THE FINALS!!!

Speed Racer had a busy week also.

He got a new instrument that we have to hear him play all night. It's called a  Berimbau which is an instrument used in Capoiera.

Here, he is doing a handstand, which he does when he is in between online classes and wants to break up the time between his classes and get out all of his nervous energy.

This happened when I went for a bathroom break while he was supposed to be doing Chemistry!

 

SPEED RACER's WEEK

12 yrs

Overall: It's been hectic and we BAILED on some work during the week that we hope to finish by Sunday. NEWLY added: 5 lesson BODY LANGUAGE class on UDEMY (my child need to learn how to read people to determine when to engage and when not to engage)

CHALLENGES: We always have them. This week, I've had to increase the items I hold hostage in our family safe. I've added our school 'tablets', television 'remotes', and 'playstation DS'. Not to mention the TEST DVD from Saxon that a little boy got a hold of and decided to watch the DIVE dvd to the math problems for him (that was last week's challenge). So I moved Algebra to mom time.


(7am-8:30am) Online Live Class Independent
Landry Academy Classes

Writing ER: is live on Monday's.  His grade is a solid C+, mainly because at times he gets lazy and does subpar work when I'm not looking over his shoulder or he knows I don't plan to check his work.

Python Programming is live on Wednesday's: He is getting better at finishing the assignments without his sister helping. He hates reading though, so we are working on him slowing down and reading the chapter assignments.

(8:30am-9am) Snack Break

(9 am-11am) DAILY Independent
Study.com
Psychology, Sociology, Macro Econ, Physics and Information Systems takes him10 MINUTES per course. He's getting more proficient with finishing of the quizzes of 5 questions.

Body Language (Udemy) is 10 minutes a session and is only 5 sessions.

Online Classes takes 15 to 20 minutes
IXL (Language Arts) is on Monday and Wednesday and it takes him twenty minutes to finish. He doesn't like it, but realizes that it reinforces his grammar skills.

Prodigy (Math Game) Tuesday and Friday and he really likes it. He said sometimes he has to watch the time because he would stay on it for too long.

CTCMath (Algebra): on Monday and Friday. He does this before his Study.com work and says it helps him to understand or review anything that he didn't do well on with the Saxon/Dive lessons.It takes him about 30 minutes.


(11am-12:30am) Online Live Class Independent
Landry Academy Classes

Spanish live is on Thursday's: This teacher posted a Quizlet list for the kids to go over daily with homework. He started working through the list on Monday. He does a bit of the weekly homework a little each day.


(12:30-1:00pm) - lunch

(1pm-2pm) DAILY Independent

Membean we lowered this to 10 minutes of training a day.

Geometry (Teaching Textbooks) he is whizzing through this and I asked him if he wanted to put it aside, he said it helps him with understanding his Abeka Geometry, and gives him more practice.

Speed Reading & Comprehension with Ace Reader he is almost finish this tool. I will have to find him another Speed reading activity tool at this rate.


(2pm-2:30pm) DAILY Independent


Copy work is doing Great Writer's Quotes in cursive, he writes so well in cursive and to think he's a lefty! It takes him 10 minutes

Wordly Wise he finishes these pretty quick and have been making between 75% and 85% on his test.

(2:30pm-3pm) Snack Break

(3pm-4:45pm) DAILY with Mom / Dad or Sibling assistance.
Geometry AbekaAcademy is back on track. I let him do his current test 'open book' and he got a 98%. I think we may do if he needs it.

Sequential Spelling  He did just 'okay' on his test, so we are continuing on and see how he does on Test 2 next week.

Algebra 1 (Saxon with DIVE dvds):He tries to do the Lesson homework BEFORE he watches the  DIVE videos. Homework or Seatwork he does Problem set #1 evens or odds. He's being tested every week it seems. This works out for him as this is the 2nd time he's taking Algebra 1. He is really solidifying the topics better this year.

(5pm) Martial Arts  or Soccer
Soccer & Martial Arts: I am ready for Soccer to be over. It seems we overbooked and the getting him to games has become stressful on Saturdays.

PE Is done 6 days a week. He needs to be busy.

(6:15-6:30pm) 2 days a week with Mom / Dad or Sibling assistance.
3-minute devotional for guys is on Wednesday and Friday's. I am loving the discussions I have with him about it.

(7-7:30pm) Dinner

(7:30pm - 8:15pm) DAILY with Mom / Dad or Sibling assistance.
Chemistry his Abeka he did well on his open book quiz. I had to print out his formulas for him though.


(8:15pm-9:15pm) 3 or 2 days a week with Mom / Dad or Sibling assistance.
English Literature and American Literature These subjects are going well. We will reinforce with movies and plays.

Weekend Plans: Both CAP and YOUNG EAGLES programs were cancelled as was his SOCCER game.

Tiger Lilly's Week: High Schooler /Dual Enrolled 15 yrs old

All her classes are in full gear and we made some additions to her schedule.

CHALLENGES: The Hackathon work wasn't being well managed by Tiger Lilly. She started doing work that wasn't completed by another team member which caused her to neglect to turn in one of her COLLEGE assignments (Yikes!). When I found out, I contacted the team member's parent after talking to him and he got back on board (all be it with a bit of an arrogance I'm not used to seeing in a 14 yr old). Therefore, she had to contact her professor and beg him to allow her to turn in the assignment off sequence. He did, but she took a hit on the grade.

(9 am-10:30am) DAILY
Landry Academy
Network Pro she has class on TUESDAY . Her 'TESTOUT' interactive software used for this class she is getting 100% on her quizzes. The homework (Mon, Wed, Thu, and Fri) takes her about thirty minutes.
 
10:30am-11:30am - 2 days a week
[Hackathon work] Software Development class (Homeschool Class by mom) She is working on building a web application for the Hackathon - finishing up Wordpress, with JAVA and PHP to build their website and app.

See the Light Art Class 2 days a week and she shows off her Art and she's been getting more adventurous with it lately.

11:30am-12:30pm- 3 days a week
Calculus with Saxon & Dive and CTCMath She only worked on the CTCMath these last two weeks. She also has been resorting to Khan Academy to further understand some concepts.

1:30pm-4:30pm- 3 days a week [Dual Enrolled College Courses with UMUC.edu]
Nutrition This week she had a project, a quiz and discussion question.

Relational Database Design Now she downloaded Oracle SQL Developer. It's supposed to help her with designing her database and doing her queries to the Oracle database she has to connect to during class.

Technical Writing She has had to write technical documents for all types of industries. This week she wrote a manual. Although, she could've tested out of this with DSST, I'm glad she is still taking the course since she is learning a lot.

5pm-6:30pm - 3 days a week - PE
Soccer and Martial Arts . She is hating soccer.

7pm-8:30pm - 4 days a week
Japanese with 1.5 hr tutoring and I added some daily IMMERSION cds.

Build Video Game using Unity 3D she will be working with a tutor from IDTech to help her when she gets stuck creating her games.

Japanese with 1.5 hr tutoring and I added some daily IMMERSION cds.

8pm-9pm - 2 days a week
3-minute Devotional for Girls we are moving steadily through the devotional. However, she isn't asking as many questions as I'd like.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals Well, it's been a bad meal week. Hotdogs and french fries, Airfry to make steak and chicken (my husband had to make to side items) and Pizza from Dominos.

Cleaning. We are getting into a routine. I don't know how long it will last.

Work & Life Balance. Ugh, dropping off my two oldest kids to work on my way to work. I was so spoiled when I only had to wake up and get myself out the door.

Lesson Planning. Forever changing. Seems I can only do it on the last minute Sunday since my kids tend to be using the weekend to finish work they didn't want to do during the week.

Rest. I am slipping back to my 11:45pm bedtime which isn't good. Not that the kids are finishing later, but that I am watching my Fall lineup of TV shows which keep me up since I video tape them to watch later.

Marriage Check Up. For some reason, hubby's been cranky. Then I realized that he and I haven't had a 'date' night in 2 weeks. So... I am looking at some comedy clubs for us to check out.

Creating Social Opportunities for Our Kids

The Separation of Education and Socialization

And A little Bit Of What We Need To Focus 

Follow the Path of Traditionally Schooled kids

Most local and public schools usually have tons of information weekly they give to parents regarding afterschool, enrichment and opportunities.

You can go capitalize on this yourself by doing the following:

1) Go into the local schools in your area and ask them for the weekly flyers they give out to their kids.

2) You can ask the parents of kids in your neighborhood that go to the local schools to share with you any activities, afterschool courses, etc for kids

Create Your Own Club

The homeschool group near where I live at has some very motivated parents. They've created 'teen' weekends at their homes and the teens can sign up monthly.

My kids love being able to interact with kids their age, goofing off, movie nights, gameplay nights and the max.

Don't Limit Your Kid's Group Of Friends

Many homeschoolers I've met over the years, tend to want to focus their kids interaction with other kids that are only being homeschooled. In my opinion, that's closing the door to your kid finding a potentially good friend.

Therefore, seek out kid focused social activities that are for all kids. Like recreational sports groups, clubs and afterschool enrichment.

The Key To Finding Friendships for Your Kid?

Consistency. Kids build friendships by consistently seeing and interacting with each other. Find activities that allow that and your kid will find good lasting friendships that way.

The Transforming of My STONG-WILLED Child

TRANSFORM that STRONG-WILLED CHILD into a STRONG WOMAN or MAN

It can happen! Now with a young man of 21 years old, and a maturing young man of 12 yrs old, I can see the light. And realize that in spite of myself, I DID SOMETHING RIGHT.

RECITE to make it RIGHT

One thing I tried when homeschooling my youngest son, that did wonders, was to create a CALM DOWN LIST. It was a list of to do's that taught him (by reciting daily and whenever he had problems controlling his temper) how to calm down, relax, redirect, or accept.

Doing this daily, having everyone on board to know and recite it imprinted these tools into my son's mind and over the course of one year, he knew how to put those tips into action. Even though he wanted to have a tantrum, act out, he knew how to redirect it or squash it.

I made the list SPECIFIC TO THE CHILD and researched calming techniques, thoughts to inject and actions to implement it.

Also, we trained them to 'THINK THROUGH THE PROCESS' by asking yourself, 'Why am I doing this? What will the consequences be? Can I make amends?" and other questions. We ask those same questions every time the child went haywire, lol!

After awhile, they would offer up the answers, but truly identify with the apology or follow-up decisions.

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY

The other thing I reflected that worked with both boys, is to be consistent in my reaction to them. It was hard not to yell, scream and curse them out (oh yeah, they can take me there), but MOST TIMES (hey, mom's not perfect) I was consistent, non-effected outwardly, by their actions.

If I gave a punishment, I tried to think on it, make it conducive to the lesson I wanted to teach the child, and discuss with my spouse. However, for typical behavior, we had a consequence board that left no argument or debate on what the punishment was.

An example of this is when my oldest daughter yelled at her sister that 'at school you are not my sister!'. That day, her punishment was that I took her own bedroom from her. She had to share a room with her sister until she learned 'humility' and kindness. Six months later, we decorated and opened up her own bedroom because she had changed greatly.

TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD FRIENDSHIP WITH YOUR CHILD

Yes, you have to play with them. Not just parent. Play with them, talk to them, every single day. Work at building a deep and trusting relationship with them.

If they tell you they did something freely (even if it is punishable) don't punish, but talk them through it.

This friendship will blossom into adulthood and is truly the solidifying glue to working with a strong-willed child.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS that lead them to THE RIGHT SOLUTION

Learn to ask them questions, instead of always TELLING THEM WHAT TO DO. Guide them to find the right and wrong in the specific situation.

When they answer in the right manner - rarely, can they dispute the facts.

Also, IT TEACHES THEM TO REASON WITH THEMSELVES when they are being talked into or out of a situation.

FIND THEM THE RIGHT TRIBE OF FRIENDS

Birds of a feather, typically flock together. Kids conform (good or bad) to those other kids around them that they want to have as friends.

Sports, and ROTC programs like the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) program camps that teach discipline all have been a great outlet for my sons and given them a great group of friends that are focused on positive things.

I also put my oldest son through EMT training if for nothing but to teach him discipline, garner his desire to help others and that training and volunteering matured him in many ways. It also gave him other strong male mentors besides his great supportive dad who coached him in most all his sports teams.

TIMES YOU WILL SEE CHANGES

After my first son had grown, and my now youngest is doing so, I realized there are some actual ages in development where they start to CALM DOWN and THINK MORE CLEARLY. Also, we would sing the psalm "NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME WILL PROSPER" and do prayer meditation.

The age for my boys was 12 years old. At that age - they just mellowed out.

Then it was a different type of wild from age 14 yrs to 21 yrs.

My husband says the age of 25 yrs old is where males become less impulsive. I actually researched his answer and he was correct. Their act of reasoning matures, making them more cautious and thoughtful about their decisions at that age. ESPECIALLY, when they are taught to be thoughtful about their task.

REALIZE YOU HAVE A STRONG, DETERMINED individual in a TINY BODY

It reminds me of the Incredibles movie when the movie ended and they play the skit about the baby who now has all these uncontrollable super powers. My oldest son and youngest son reminds me of that kid.

And you know what? They grow up to be better able to harness and utilize those gifts of creativity, impulsive, and determination.

Keep them BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Breakdancing and Capoiera were great tools for my son. Also, running. It gave him something to do with his nervous energy and taught him discipline. It put him with strong male role models and teachers.

We also had a EXERCISE IN A HAT game we played when I saw he was getting ansy or irritable where he would pick an activity out of our hat and he would do that activity (jumping jacks, hop ups, run in circle) for 2 minutes. Then decide if he wanted to go back to work.

SLEEP was a big factor. He did have mild 'sleep apnea' and had his tonsils removed. It helped a lot. But he also had insomnia (like both his dad and I) so we allowed him to sleep in the room with us longer.

THEY DID GROW UP INTO STRONG PEOPLE

My oldest son's teacher in 1st grade who'd 'recommended' he be medicated, met him as he picked up his brother Speed Racer from camp.

All the joking my oldest had done in class, he'd turned into an advertising business and did stand up comedy.

His former teacher was shocked and commented on the 'great young man he'd turned into'. My son however, didn't forget how mean and unbending this teacher was.

SHOW THEM LOVE DURING THE DAY

Nothing beats a hug, kiss or positive word and reinforcements throughout the day. Turn the 'negative' talk into MANY POSITIVE VOICES to reinforce their self-esteem.
 

EVEN if YOU MEDICATE YOUR CHILD THEY NEED TO HAVE TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

There are kids that I've seen, my husband had grown up with (he was adopted and his mom had lots of foster kids with challenges) that need medication, but without tools and behavior modification, medicating doesn't work.

Also, be cautious about medicating as the US is one of the largest countries to aggressively over medicate children.

We never medicated, but did talk to their doctor who was conservative on these matters and suggested that we wait til the child was 12 or 13 yrs old. As well as the doctor gave us tips on improving our boys energy and distractions.

We found that even though both boys bounced off the walls, seemed to not pay attention - they were taking it all in. They just liked moving around to do it.

Give your kids the tools for success.

Seems it's going to be another Year Around School Year

Just When We Want School To Be Over

Mom Decides To Do It Year Around

Yep, you heard me. My Speed Racer has got to solidify his gap areas in Math. Sure he did Algebra 1, and Basic Math, but we have a lot to catch up on since taking him out of public school where his gaps are effecting his progress.

Also, Tiger Lilly had dropped her Pre-Calc class and has to do that before she can take some others as it's a prerequisite. So if she has school, Speed Racer does too.

THE ICING to cover it up is,

I'm enrolling them both in YMCA daycamp for the entire summer. To meet new friends, get socialized and have fun before doing their work in the evenings and weekends.

We Camped By The Beach

We stayed the entire weekend. Limited cellphones, playing capture the flag with two other families and lots of fun for the kids - no rest for the parents, lol!

And it tuckered out my Speed Racer too!

And waking up to this view ... a dream come true.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

We are sliding into our more 'relaxed' spring/summer curriculum. He finished up Electricity and Robotics written assignments, and another project in Scratch.

Done with his last week in 5 Paragraph Writing Class.

Took another break from Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 and working on CTCMath on Fractions. Workbooks which he does a page daily in (Reading, Fractions, Writing, Reading Comprehension) and some xtramath.org drills.

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.

Down to the last two weeks in Professional Writing Class and Economics she finished quizzes and two papers, also a resume and article proposal.

The Landry courses are sliding to an end C Programming and she is having motivation problems finishing with her last two programs. PC Pro is caught up with quizzes and video viewing. Well,  Japanese isn't going well since she can't meet during the class time. So I am looking at some local in person classes.

Other classes she is taking to build up her 'resume' for Game Developer (her dream career) are CoronaSDK, GameSalad, Unity 3d and Linux (Command Line) using Udemy and TechRocket.


WORKING PARENT's LOG


Meals I cook more here in my new home. Eating out is WAY expensive. I plan to learn to make my own bread, ice cream and meals that I enjoy when we go out.

Cleaning. Slow going now that some of our boxes arrived and we didn't have a place to put our stuff.

Work & Life Balance. It is leveling out more. I get to work at 5:30am and home by 3pm. My husband and I carpool together which works out well and gives us alone time to chat or just hold hands.

Lesson Planning. Very easy since they have a lighter courseload.

Rest. Yep, both hubby and I have been taking 30 min naps when we get home. The kids laugh at us, but it gives us a boost to get down to work with them afterwards.  

Marriage Check Up. Great! The carpooling together is so fun. We also, sneak out after work for a snack here and there. Also, we have resumed our weekly date nights.

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.

Another Week for Improvement

In Life - Sometimes Kissing Makes You Feel Better

And this week - I got plenty from my Little Guy. He must've known I needed it after the last few weeks.

Crazy news since I am on a health kick is I'm going for a Body or Virtual Body Scan. I have to use up some Heatlhcare Flex Spending money before the end of the year and I figured - why not? So stay tuned.

Homeschooling and work this week went off without a glitch. Shocking how life goes up then down and just when you think you want to get off, you see the sun.

For Fun This weekend we went to the ESCAPE ROOM LIVE, a college STEP SHOW, a WEDDING and a BE A CODER event.

SPEED RACER (age 11yrs) my Middle Schooler

Homeschooled at 4th grade on.

He has been working rather independently this week. I get home and he's finished all his seat work and homework in,  English, Grammar and Spelling , Biology, History, Economics and American Government.

Speed Racer has been saving doing started Abeka Algebra 1, with a Teaching Textbook lab on the when I get home, then  CTCMath practice for last.

Time4Writing is getting better and coming to an end in a few weeks. I signed him up for a Paragragh Writing class with Currclick coming at the end of the month and another writing class with FunCation in November. Membean is really helping his vocabulary and word recal. We shelved Python with Techrocket and started Python Programming with Code Academy.

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

Homeschooled at 7th grade on.

Has been studying.  Midterm time in her US History 1 course and Psychology.

This week there was a small break in her Landry courses, so she didn't do anything  in C Programming, PC Pro and Japanese.

We are still going to drop her College Math class since she bombed the test. In her Software Application's class she has been going to the lab which helps.

Tiger Lilly is in her last week with Unity 3d and practicing Java since she will begin two more mid-semester college classes, Speech and Intro To Programming. She turned in two pieces of art for her Animation Course.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals Everynight I cooked. I totally nailed it this week. The kids didn't cook on the weekend so it was a sandwhich weekend.

Cleaning. We have a mountain of cleaning to do since we are trying to clear out the clutter of our house so it will be ready to sell next year.

Work & Life Balance. It was a somewhat better week at work. However, I had to work 2 twelve hour days to make up hours for being off last week.

Lesson Planning. So-so as I barely got it done Sunday night..

Rest. I've got 7 hours.

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.

Sliding into Another Adventurous Week

YOU DON'T NEED Much ROOM To LEARN

See that compact set up? Well that's in my dining room. Tucked in the corner as his sister's desk is tucked into the other corner. The chair and the desk are foldable. The drawer set is a product of using Sue Patrick's workbox systems (changed a bit to fit our needs). So when company comes over, we just put them away.


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

Had a great week. With this shortened schedule he and I were looking at each other at the end of the day as though we were lost. He asked to play on Clever Dragons or to be signed up for Minecraft Homeschool. I told him 'No' since I want to keep things manageable.

So instead of adding more school work, I signed him up for Archery of 5 weeks.

He has gotten the hang of his subjects and in English, Grammar and Spelling (an all in one class for Abeka) he read several short stories, picked out a book for his book report, completed a spelling test and passed his quizzes in Grammar with a high score. Biology, History and American Government are challenging for him and he doesn't like the task of taking notes daily (I require him to take notes from the teacher for me to sign off on each day). Economics is a class we discuss afterwards since I minored in it in college and liked it. Saxon Math 7/8 is coming along well with solidifying things. He enjoys the way CTCMath explains math topics and does a daily drill. Membean has improved his vocabulary, spelling and ability to break down words. In Techrocket he is on the 2nd module on Python Programming.

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

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

She had a project and quiz in both her Landry courses, C Programming and PC Pro. Her Japanese class had her doing some writing exercises and she and I watched some Japanese Anime where we had close caption on. We also listened to some Immersion CDs in Japanese a few days of the week.

The Community College courses started with a bang. She got access to them online this past Saturday. We went to an in person orientation for her Software Application's class. Her US History 1 course has her reading a chapter, reviewing the videos online from her instructor and writing a reflection paper. I had her add notes and terms to Quizlet.com for her to do a review of topics daily. In Psychology, she has some class interaction through online discussions, reading of chapters and a weekly quiz. In College Math, she did the homework in advance of class, read the book and looked at some Yahoo videos prior to attending class on Friday (today).

For fun, she is on Techrocket, learning Unity 3d and practicing Java (since she has to take it next semester at the college). In addition, she is doing some Art DVDs to practice her artwork since she is excited about the Animation Course she is taking this September.

For PE, we've been slacking on her going to the gym. But we did better this week and I also signed her up for Archery.


The other two young adults in the house...

Are living back at home after a year on campus.

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

Is taking 21 credits this semester. She's a bit bummed she can't work. But is making some money helping me 2 days a week as a tutor and homehelper for her siblings.

Her goal is to work next semester to continue to save towards her move to Maui, HI next May. She wants to live there a year before she attends Grad School. In between her AA degree and starting her BS degree she did a study abroad program to Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. We spent 18 days in Maui in planning for her move next year.

In just 3.5 years this girl would have accumulated an AA in BioInformatics, a BS in BioInformatics and Minor in Computer Science with so far a 4.0.

RAZOR RAY (age 20yrs) senior in College
Never Homeschooled.

Has a hefty load. He is working on 19 credits this semester. He also has a weekend job at the hospital as a patient transporter. Then the young man added on using his talents as a Physical Therapy Tech at the college in the Athletic Department.

In addition he's taken on dropping off his siblings at some of their sports events.

I am hoping he didn't take on too much, but he seems eager.

He also plans on moving to Hawaii next year with his sister. A little later than her since he changed his major a few times.

He also did an AA in BioInformatics but changed to Information Technology with a focus in User Engineering for his BS degree.

Although, he loved playing lacrosse and was pretty successful at it, he gave up playing at the college level so he could concentrate on his studies.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. The kids cooked 2 times this week. I prepared and cooked the other 2 days. Friday is always pizza or Chinese it seems.

Cleaning. The house and bedrooms are cleaned, but the laundry is again out of control. We are planning to make a trip to the laundry mat so I won't be washing clothes all day. Also, we had a squirrel in our attic (my little man told us he heard noises but..we didn't believe him). A company came by to fix that up for us.

Work & Life Balance.I had Monday off work (Yay!) and got to sleep in til 8am. We had some work done on our roof so I hung out till they were done.The rest of the week at work has been busy and I've gotten home later than I wanted. Luckily, my home helper started the younger kids off with their work.

Lesson Planning. Nailing it. Can't seem to do more than 1 week at a time since I am still trying to make sure this will stick.

Rest. Well rested earlier in the week, but by Thursday, I'm living on coffee.

Marriage Check Up. Me and hubby went to the farmer's market and I read out loud to him on our trips to run some errands. He and I are reading a Zombie book, then discuss the characters.

Reality Checkup

WEEKLY WRAP UP

We are getting used to the crazy weather and doing some Spring Cleaning. With one laptop still on the fritz it is a challenge to get work done on time.

We were able to attend a Homeschool Science Fair - but had to give up some school time to do it. We are having some late nights finishing school this week due to sports daily.

Rose and I went to the Physician Assistant Information Session at her college. She found that she has just a little to finish in coursework if she wants to apply for the Fall 2017 school year. Her biggest challenge is getting 900 patient contact hours by Spring 2016, then apply by July 2016 for classes starting the following year. There are 3 schools in our state she plans to apply to. If she doesn't get in any of those she has 2 in a neighboring city that she will apply, but the big issue is it's double the price of the in-state options.

Our last day of school will be May 15th, then we'll have Math daily when the kids aren't in camp or traveling.

Speed Racer, 6th grader

His work with Time4Learning.com is going well (Biology, Language Arts , US History and Language Extensions). He had do redo less quizzes this week and told me he actually finds this tool 'fun'.

Math, he's bumped up to doing Teaching Textbooks, Saxon daily. He is still struggling with Fractions, so now he and I are working through the Spectrum Fractions workbook together.

Writing since Time4Writing ended, I purchased a Spectrum 6 grade writing workbook that we are working through now.

Vocabulary (Wordsmart), Language Practice (IXL), Reading Speed Reading Comprehension Workbook (Spectrum books), Spelling (Sequential Spelling and Spelling You See)

Technology he's doing Underground RailRoad (Minecraft Homeschool) which he loves the 'build' parts and I love the quiz sections, Mod Design (Youth Digital) which he is almost finished with.

Sports daily (2hours each day O_o ), but Lacrosse is picking up and taking over Dance and Martial Arts days.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader
Had to drop the Sociology Dual Enrollment Course. Tiger Lilly took the mid term and was rather unprepared for the depth and rigor of the exam. After she returned, we noted that although she'd done well on the quizzes, her study method for the mid-term wasn't very effective. She emailed her teacher and we calculated what she would have to do to pull a 'B' or better out of the class and realized it was too much for her at this time. So we withdrew her from the course.

However, she is on course with her other Dual Enrolled courses at the Community College in Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation.

We had to move her files to my husband's laptop so she could do her homework in Web Design with Currclick.com or Python (with Landry Academy). Her Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya class she says is getting a little dull since this teacher doesn't do much to get the class involved. I notified the school of her dissappointment in this facet of the course. She emailed YouthDigital.com to ask how to move her files from her broken computer to her father's for her Blender Animation class.

The Psychology class with Currclick on Monday is coming to an end early next month. And study US History to 1877 using Instantcert cards.

We are moving her to Teaching Textbooks Pre-Calc since we have to return the Abeka DVDs. She is building up Algebra skills with CLEP Professor and IXL.  This is all to prepare her for the College Math Placement test (Accuplacer) required by the Community College. We hope to get her 'tested' into Pre-Calc.

Her independent stufy on One Year Adventure Novel (she is determined to write her book this year) is now in her book writing phase. She finished the Chemistry course with Education-Portal.

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

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Monday, we got Chinese food. However, I was able to thaw out the pre-seasoned Salmon, Chicken and beef I had in the freezer for the rest of the week.

Cleaning. We've got the house clean - exception is the basement where the kids used to do school full time. Since I put a media center in the Dining Room, they don't want to do school downstairs and left their school area a wreck. So this weekend I plan to 'close' the basement school area for the school  year and let them work upstairs - provided they clean up their desk daily.

Work & Life Balance. This week was much better than the last - with the exception that I'm working extra hours to be off on Monday. So it's making our school days longer.

Lesson Planning. I finished it on Monday and it only takes 2 hours since the kids have less work than the regular year.

Rest. Only was able to sleep 5 hours on Mon and Tue. After I walked Hubby through our new routine, he jumped in and I was able to get 7 hours sleep a night (partially  because I have insomnia and wake up every few hours).

Marriage Check Up. We got no alone time this week. This week we just supported each other, talked on the phone a few times and sent romantic text to each other. I think we were actually alone 2 times in the car when we had to drop the kids off at Martial Arts and Dance.

So Close Til The Finish Line

Weekly Wrap Up

We are so close to actually finalizing our school year with our core curriculum, Abeka Academy, that I and the kids are jumping for joy! Just two weeks and we are on lessons 155 (which is where we usually end our school year even though Abeka Academy has 170 lessons included).

I'm looking at Time4Learning.com and MinecraftHomeschool.com for Speed Racer. Stay tuned.

On The Road Again - Yep! This is a big field trip for just me and the kids. We are going to Disney world (again) to hang out and relax while doing a 'light' school week. So we packed our gear and are ready to leave this weekend. Rose is coming home to hang out with Hubba so he doesn't get lonely.

Speed Racer, 6th grader

With MOD Design (Java beginner curriculum) by Youth Digital he worked with support to get some things back in order. Also, I'd noticed he didn't do the section reviews and troubleshooting for each Module - so, I told him he'll be backtracking and finishing up the 6 of them he'd missed. Clever Dragons he played in during the morning finishing more Spanish and Literature. WordSmart (vocabulary software program) which is working well to teach him word meaning.

We had some glitches with Time4Writing [Paragraphs] since they are doing updates to their web app.

He's worked independently this week on his Saxon Math, Spelling You See. While his dad worked with him during his Abeka Academy [Bible, Language, Reading, Penmanship, Science & History]. No copywork this week in Anatomy. He is still working on consistency with his Fraction Practice Review Sheets. I videotaped him while he played his 2nd song he learned on the Piano with Simply Music.

Yellow Belt advancement was this week, and he squeezed in two days (4 hours) of dance and acrobatics practice as well as 2 days (2 hours) of martial arts.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

Tiger Lilly is in the groove. She is working independently on her college courses now in their 3rd week  (Sociology, Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation). On Friday, I assigned her the task of making Quizlet.com flashcards for her to use to study with for her coming mid-terms and quizzes.

She is no longer doing her Physics class online with Education-Portal since she finished all the videos and quizzes.

One day of Web Design with Currclick.com (she finished her 2nd project), Python class with Landry she had her class on Wed with a quiz, Psychology with Currclick was a little longer class on Monday. Blender Animation with Youth Digital is almost 70% done. Chemistry with Education-Portal is still fun for her and she watches the videos and does the quizzes that follow each video.

While her brother was snowboarding, she did her Saturday session with Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya. She had to work on her animation project for her next class this coming Saturday.

Pre-Calc with Abeka had her doing 2 quizzes this week - she got 'A's on it. She complained that Pre-Calc is just like geometry - only more of it, lol!

She's studying for her CLEP exam in US History to 1877 Review with Instantcert and has memorized 50 of the 82 facts in her 1st set of instantcert flashcards. CLEP Professor Algebra she finished 4 days of lessons this week of her total 20.

She does two days of martial arts (2 hours) and 1 day (an hour) of Hip Hop dance. I promised her we would do 30 minutes of exercise 2 days a week but momma is lazy about exercising.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. This week went by like a breeze. I had all my meats prepped and we had a hot meal every night. Hubba even cooked (put meat in the oven and made the minute rice with veggies). I was a bit miffed when I came home from work after a 12 hour day and cooked dinner - only to have my Hubba take the kiddos to Chick-Fil-A. However, I felt bad afterwards for fussying him out about it since the kids asked him to take them since they got their Yellow Belts in martial arts that day and wanted to celebrate. Sigh. So I ate, then packed that day's dinner up for the next day.

Cleaning. Don't ask. I did put away the clothes I washed last week. But there is another pile on the couch since my Hubba decided to wash clothes but hadn't had a chance to fold them. We hope to prep the living room for painting since we are getting new Dining and Living Room furniture.

Work & Life Balance. A crazy week of 12 hour days and freezing rain. Also throw in some pretty highly visible work product deadlines to present to other engineers - eek! I'm trying to work extra hours to compensate for my plan to be off next week for our trip to Florida and I may end up sleeping to recover, lol!

Lesson Planning. Not done for next week since it's going to be a light week and we are going out of town.

Rest. I actually got 6 to 7 hours of sleep out of the way. So I wasn't tired this week, surprisingly.

Marriage Check Up. We stayed up way later than I should've to watch my Hubba's favorite show together while eating candy we 'borrowed' from the kids.

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!