Close Yet Far

Weekly Wrap Up

I am Spring Cleaning, closing down our basement homeschool room, moving what's left to the dinning room Media Center while getting ready for our end of year Party!

With just 3 Weeks til the end of the school year, there is lot's to do!


Speed Racer, 6th grader

Has finished most of his computer based learning for the school year. His work with Time4Learning.com is done (Biology, Language Arts , US History and Language Extensions).

Math, he is finishing up Teaching Textbooks and Saxon. Still he is having a challenge with remembering the 'rules' for doing fractions, so we are spending extra time on this while he's finishing up the curriculums above.

Writing we are working through the Spectrum 6 grade writing workbook which is a good way to keep him writing by hand and working on his skill. Also, it gives me a better view on what his challenges are.

Vocabulary (Wordsmart) is getting frustrating. This tool is very unforgiving and we haven't made the progress I would've liked. My only issue is that he is getting the games 90% correct but the tool won't let me progress him. It's 100% or nothing.

Language Practice (IXL) Love this tool, we are working through 5th grade Language practice for review.

Reading Speed Reading Comprehension Workbook (Spectrum books). I have him read outloud to me and answer the questions to the story.

Spelling (Sequential Spelling and Spelling You See). We finished Sequential Spelling and are finishing up Spelling You See.

Technology he is finishing Underground RailRoad (Minecraft Homeschool) which he enjoyed.

Sports daily (is killing me! ), but it keeps him busy. Also, with our shortened schedule, he gets to play outside with the neighborhood kids after they get out of school and before he leaves for practice.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader
Tiger Lilly is swamped with work to finish before Final Exams start. Her Dual Enrolled courses at the Community College in Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation are picking up.

She is behind in finishing her projects with Web Design with Currclick.com and Python (with Landry Academy), but she hopes to finish and catch up by the weekend.

Her Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya has her doing an animation project, but she won't be able to share it with the class, which disappointed her. HerYouthDigital.com has produced a great animation Blender Animation.

The Psychology class with Currclick on Monday is coming to an end early next month. She is almost finished her US History to 1877 using Instantcert cards study. But her CLEP practice exam scores aren't as high as I'd like them to be.

Teaching Textbooks Pre-Calc is working out well and we are using IXL for extra practice. 

She is working on her book for the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum.

Girls Code and Cyberjutsu Girls is non-profit organization has weekly classes, I was able to enroll Tiger Lilly and she is getting used to it. She said it's a challenge to jump in after the course has been going on a year because most of the kids already have their friend 'click'. So, I told her I would stay with her and volunteer to work with her on her project. We are adding these programs to her list for next school year.

Her Independent endeavors now includes: Creating a comic, Finishing her book, Creating a Game Application with her sister.

As for exercise (mom fail) we aren't getting much. She does Martial Arts for 2 days a week and Dance. I have to find something to get and keep her moving next school year. It gets harder once kids turn 14yrs old and High School sports get absorbed into the school.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals. Another Monday that I didn't take out food to prep. So on the way home, I stopped at the grocery store. The rest of the week was a crockpot, baking, and sandwhich dinner week.

Cleaning. The house is a mess, but I plan to get the troops in gear to whip things back in shape on Saturday.

Work & Life Balance. I had some out of work errands to run (do the taxes for myself and son) that shortened my work week. I will pay for it later when I have to make those hours up next week.

Lesson Planning. Easy since both kids have a shortened schedule, so I finished it in an hour.

Rest. Another bad sleep week. Why? Because I decided to stay up late and watch TV, read, or do some writing for my side business.

Marriage Check Up. Kicking the kids out of our room so we could eat ice cream in bed while watching a scary movie. I paid for it with lack of sleep the next day, but it was worth it.

Why Did I Start Homeschooling?

How Did a Working Mom who Loved Traditional School Consider

Homeschooling

The Utterance From a 2nd Grader:

My youngest son was having a terrible time at school. Between my husband and I, we probably spent 1/3 of the school year showing up to address my youngest son's problems at school.

He complained of the work being 'boring'. The teachers being 'mean' and not having many friends. And the friends he had, always got in trouble too.

Speed Racer told me, "Mom, I don't think school is for me. You are a good teacher. You could homeschool me."

No way was that going to happen. I didn't know a thing about homeschooling. Sure, I'd taught Speed Racer and my other kids to read, write, and do math (all at home) even though they were in traditional school settings. But I hadn't considered teaching them, and I certainly couldn't afford being home.

Life In Motion To Change Our Direction:

Several things happened to spurn my consideration for homeschooling. It's like my youngest son's plea was tucked in my heart and my eyes started to open.

After Speed Racer had been the victim of 'Teacher' abuse, where his teacher shook him and twisted his wrist. Also, bullying and ostracizing by the other kids due to him being labeled a 'trouble-maker'. We decided to work on moving him to another school. Private school. However, both my husband and I decided that if this option didn't work, we may have to re-organize our lives to make homeschooling happen.

So mid-year of Speed Racer's 3rd grade, we moved him to a Christian School we felt would be a great fit for him. We also moved our then 6th grader, Tiger Lilly, who although, never got in trouble in school, had started become 'invisible' and more of an introvert than before. Not to mention, her grades had started to slip.

Rose, our then 10th, grader was excelling at her public high school from which her older brother had recently graduated. Rose was in the Gifted and Talented program at her school, had plenty of friends, and was some what unhappy with the sports program at her school that always cut her from the Lacrosse team.

Another 'Aha' Moment:

Speed Racer liked his new Private school - however, Tiger Lilly hated it. In addition, there were some things that GREATLY disturbed us about the school.

It was super rigid, had very little recess time, the teachers were stern to the point of being plain mean. And my poor Speed Racer, was starting to feel as though he 'could never do anything right.'

You see, Speed Racer, was a 'speak your mind' kind of kid. Also, he had lots of energy. In addition to that, he was rather intelligent and didn't like to waste time on things he already knew.

I showed up at his 'afterschool' program to find that he and the other kids were stuck in their desk, in a quiet room, doing homework. This to me was insane considering the kids had been in their seats all day from 8am-3pm already with only a 30 min break for lunch and 15 min of that was for recess.

My son would have 'accidents' because he'd be forced to hold off going to the bathroom until the entire class could go.

And I was PAYING for this mistreatment! Ugh.

Meanwhile, Tiger Lilly, was hating school. She didn't make friends to easily because she didnt' have time. Her class only got 20 min lunch and 5 min outside. She told me she felt like she was in jail.

Decision Made By The Family Sweetheart:

All of this didn't go unnoticed by Rose. Who I believe knew on some level the step of homeschooling was a scary thought for her parents.

Therefore, she announced in 10th grade, January, after we've moved to another county in our state, that she didn't want to transfer schools. She wanted to be homeschooled!

With a lot of research behind me, landing an Umbrella Group that was awesome in helping me, I felt confident taking on this journey with my older daughter.

We enrolled her in Community College courses, and I built my confidence in homeschooling through this awesome child.

Never Looking Back:

We started officially homeschooling our younger two kids, in the summer after Rose started homeschooling.

Speed Racer stood up during Rose's homeschool graduation and THANKED HER, for making his dream of being homeschooled come true.

Tiger Lilly also thanked her sister because now she loves school and learning again.

Razor Ray, my oldest also, thanked Rose as she had become his best friend since they now attended the same Community College and both played sports.

Oh, and Rose, who always got cut from her high school team? Landed a Lacrosse scholarship at her Community College and ended up participating in a workshop where she taught her old high school team tips about playing at the College Level of Lacrosse.

Blessings Never Come In The Way We Expect:

Had anyone expressed to my Hubba and I that we would both be homeschooling parents. That we'd work through it all. That our kids would give us the courage to do things we never anticipated - we would have been skeptical.

But blessings never come in the way we expect - especially when we are stubborn about believing in the impossible.

Duds and Stars of our Curriculum 2014-15

THE Good THE Bad THE Ugly

 

 

 

This past school year we used and experimented with a lot of different curriculum. Finally, we settled on what was working for our family.

 

 

THE CURRICULUM THAT DIDN'T FIT - at all

 

Clever Dragons

My son found this somewhat fun, he just felt that the learning portion of this was disjointed and didn't follow a pattern. This only lasted for one month before I realized it wasn't working for us.

 



Write Guide
We'd expected more feedback on the written essays, but the comments were too general to really deep dive into helping my daughter. We liked being able to be specific in what she learned, but we needed more.

Abeka Math 6
My son needed more review of key concepts. Although, Abeka touched on these, it wasn't sticking for him. So I had to put together another option.

Abeka Spelling
It was way too many words and definitions for my son to learn weekly. He really struggled with this.

CURRICULUM THAT WE are SAVING for Another DAY

Writing and Rhetoric:
This was working for my son, however, it takes more of my time than I have to give to do this with him. So we are moving it to next school year.

Simply Music:
This teaches piano by teaching the songs. I didn't like that it didn't teach my son to read music also. So I am trying to find a supplement for the teaching of music in addition to this method.

CTC Math:
I'd considered this for my daughter to get some Calculas and Pre-Calculas instruction and practice, but from reviews I see that it doesn't do a good job of explaining the answers to the problems. I'm on the fense with this one and may wait til I see a sale to try it out.

Saxon Calculus with Dive DVDs:
My oldest daughter would like to be exposed to Calc before taking the course at the Community College. I have this on my shelf since it was the only DVD based Calc curriculum I felt would work for us. We had planned on using it with CTC Math or some other online interactive review tool.

CURRICULUM WE LOVED

Abeka DVDs:
This really worked for us. My husand and I were always on the same page while teaching. The kids seem to enjoy a workbook based curriculum that comes with teaching videos and teacher help.

Time4Writing:
We all liked that this was a well laid out writing course. My students got lots of great and valid feedback on their work. The only problem is, it seems that we take longer to finish it than the 9 weeks.

Time4Learning (High School):
I used this as a supplement for my 6th grader. He enjoyed it, but even noted that he couldn't do that for his main curriculum. We used it for a review and soft intro into Biology and US History for him.

Saxon Math:
This is working well for my son. It gives him lots of practice and we are able to deep dive into topics.

Teaching Textbooks:
We use this as a supplement - another way to do math. It didn't work as our core math curriculum in Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Math 6 or Math 7. It did work as a form of 'review' for those subjects though. However, it was the best option for Geometry and Pre-Calculus simply because my daughter seemed to like the format for those maths and it was an 'easier' choice than Abeka.

WordSmart:
This is a good vocabulary tool we got through Homebuyers Co op. However, I don't like that there is limited control on the word review and that the kid has to get each game 100% correct to move on. It has been frustrating for us.

Landry Classes:
These classes were a great 'classroom' experience for my daughter. She learned Python programming language through Landry and is going to their Game Programming Camp.

Currclick Classes:
Oh what a bargain and my daughter mention these were her most fun classes. She took Web Design, Psychology and various History workshop courses. We will be signing up for more of these.

Digipen Courses:
These were very informative. They only need to work on their method for involving kids in the discussion and not just shoveling information. My daughter wants to give their Game Programming Academy a try next year.

Youth Digital:
This is a great curriculum. My older girl is pretty much done with them and took four of their classes. My son, however, loves the classes. He took Mod Design and is taking another class next year.

MineCraft Homeschool:
Fun with a bit of learning thrown in. My son liked the format of the class and the interaction and task to complete within Minecraft.

Tynker:
My son enjoyed this but has since outgrown it when he started with Youth Digital.

Education-Portal:
My daughter really enjoys the videos and this form of learning difficult topics. So much so she reviewed classes taught by Abeka using this tool.

Code Academy:
This was a wonderful compliment to my daughter's Landry Python class. She enjoyed working the labs here. Although, she noted that it couldn't be a stand alone class.

Ktbyte.com:
Java Class (online Free) was a great tool for my daughter to use after learning Java with Youth Digitial Mod Design.

Sequential Spelling with Spelling You See:
We didn't use Abeka's Spelling after our 2nd quarter block schedule. It was too many words for my son to memorize and definitions to learn. So we combined both Sequential Spelling and Spelling You See and it's improved his spelling greatly. Also, he doesn't complain about it.

CLEP Professor Algebra:
This was a great review tool! My daughter said it clarified a lot of what she'd learned in Algebra thus far.

IXL (for Language Arts and Math Review & Drill):
We got a discount through our Umbrella group to try this out and we loved it! It's a great resource for our school day.

MiddleBury Interactive Languages:
We enjoyed this well laid out language review. We skipped the 'with teacher' offer since it seemed the teacher involvement was limited. We used this with italki.com feature to get a tutor who spoke the language of choice.

Mango Languages:
This was free through out library and we enjoyed it. However, it wasn't a lesson by lesson lay out that we enjoyed most with Middlebury.

 

WHAT WE CAN'T WAIT TO TRY

Membean
A vocabulary Tool to help with word recognition.

Logic DVD Based Currulum with Compass Classroom
Comes with DVDs, Test, Quizzes and Teachers Manual. Can't wait to try this out.

WEEKLY WRAP UP

This week went off smoothly. Also, momma goofed off. Big time. So the kiddos did their work independ of me completely.

I plan on checking their work on Friday, and what they skipped, missed, or need to fix, will be done on Saturday.

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.

Coasting Through To The End

WEEKLY WRAP UP

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

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

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

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

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

Speed Racer, 6th grader

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WORKING PARENT's LOG

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spring Is In The Air

WEEKLY WRAP UP

I am so glad Spring is winning the war over Winter. This week we had major snow melt down and rain. I never thought I'd be so happy to see rain.

My husband took my sons snowboarding in PA this weekend. They had a great guy's weekend. While my girls and I went to a movie and slept in.

Speed Racer, 6th grader

The bulk of his curriculum is Time4Learning.com which is really EASY for him compared to Abeka Academy. This is our last block of the school year and I like to keep things light with a focus on Math, Writing and light introduction to new topics. Also, for me, I only have to spend about 30 minutes a day reviewing his work.

I review his quiz and test scores in Time4Learning, Teaching Textbooks, Saxon daily. What he doesn't get a 'B' or higher on, he retakes over the weekend.

Daily he completes Time4Learning High School Curriculum which includes (Biology, Language Arts , US History and Language Extensions).

Math is done daily - first thing in the morning is Teaching Textbooks (Math 6) then when I get home to help him, he does Saxon (6/5)

Writing (Time4Writing), Vocabulary (Wordsmart), Language Practice (IXL), Reading Speed Reading Comprehension Workbook (Spectrum books), Spelling (Sequential Spelling and Spelling You See)

Technology includes Underground RailRoad (Minecraft Homeschool), Mod Design (Youth Digital).

Every day he had a sport. Dance, Lacrosse and Martial arts for 2 hours a day.

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

Her college courses are now at the Mid-Term point, and I'm helping her build her study cards to prepare for them. She also had several papers, weekly quizzes, and projects due in her college coureses of Sociology, Interpersonal Communication and Art Appreciation

Her Wednesday Web Design with Currclick.com she updated her webpage project. Her Landry teacher and she worked through some challenges with her project in  Python. Class interaction is the main focus in her Psychology class with Currclick on Monday. Using Instantcert cards to study for CLEP exam in US History to 1877.

She worked on her animation project where she drew 29 pages to prep for her Digipen-Animation with 3D Maya class. Also, her project using Blender Animation with Youth Digital she finished troubleshooting and her quiz.

No math got accomplished this week. We tabled till next week her Pre-Calc, CLEP Professor Algebra. She was challenged with finishing up her Python project ontime.

Courses she is working on without me assigning her is: One Year Adventure Novel (she is determined to write her book this year). Chemistry she is working through with Education-Portal, which is independent because I don't require her to do it - she just likes the subjects.

She did martial arts and dance this week. Only 3 hours of exercise compared to our planned 5. I of course didn't have the energy or inclination to do our workouts.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

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

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

Work & Life Balance. Another difficult week. Let's just say I barely made it through with a smile on my face. Can't wait for my 'Sleep In Saturdays'.

Lesson Planning. This is so easy now since I don't have to type the Abeka daily assignment, test and quizzes on the lesson plans. It only takes me an hour to do now.

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

Marriage Check Up. Hubby is being super patient. We didn't do our date night last week Friday, and he met snoring everynight this week. I asked him for a raincheck. So, he's sweeping me away this coming weekend for 1 night to Virginia Beach without the kids. My oldest is watching them (this is where it's nice to have a 20 year old). Truth is, I don't want to leave my kiddos, but I have to give
Hubba his time.

Hubba doing school with the kiddos, while he works from home.

The chairs and desk fold up for easy cleanup after work is done. This is our 'media center' and the kids do the remainder of their work at their permanent desk with their workboxes in another part of the home.

Why Homeschoolers should Test Their Kids

WHY HOMESCHOOLERS SHOULD TEST THEIR KIDS

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

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

BENEFITS OF TESTING

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

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

It teaches your kid to study and prepare for test.

WAYS TO MAKE TESTING MORE ACCEPTABLE FOR YOUR KID

Teach them how to prepare for test.

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

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

HOW TESTING HAS HELPED MY KIDS

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

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

TESTING REQUIRED IN THE REAL WORLD

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

Military Testing

Trade School Testing

Continued employment training and testing required

College Entry Testing and Testing During Courses

WEEKLY WRAP UP

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

Speed Racer, 6th grader

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

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

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

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

Tiger Lilly, blended 9th grader

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

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

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

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

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

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

WORKING PARENT's LOG

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

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

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

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

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

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