Where to Next?

I saw this picture on a blog we follow and was in complete awe:

www.bumfuzzle.com

This is everything that their family of 4 owns. They are moving from a boat in Mazatlan onto a vintage RV. Granted they have had years of living in tight places to adjust to very few belongings, but it is inspiring!

We are just a little over 6 months away from leaving Colorado, and we still have SO MUCH stuff! I'm still so worn out from selling the house that it seems really difficult to continue the purge effort, but I better get used to the idea that I have to do it. I have been mulling over different ideas…like packing for a trip and then throwing everything else out, or just letting Jacob do his magic and start tossing. Unfortunately, I think we could actually really help our cruising efforts if I put everything on Craigslist. It is hard work, but I'm working on my motivation. In fact I think it is my New Years resolution!

Speaking of moving. We have been working hard on deciding where our next stop will be. I think we have it narrowed down to 3 general locations.

1. Fort Lauderdale: 
• pros: cost of living is the lowest of the three, lots of boats, relatively easy to find an affordable live-a-board slip, it is never cold 
• cons: hurricane season, really hot, not a great job market
2. Seattle: 
• pros: cost of living is close to the one we are used to, lots of boats, easy to find an affordable live-aboard slip, good job market 
• cons: it gets cold in the winter, which may be difficult while living aboard. 
3. San Diego: 
• pros: nice temperate weather, good job market 
• cons: high cost of living, not tons of live-aboard slips

We will let you know when we decide. For now we are staying very busy with holidays and two little girls. We had a wonderful Christmas with family, and we are planning a quiet New Years Eve at home with a pot of cheese fondue and maybe some board games with the girls. 

Oh- and for Christmas Jacob spoiled me with a fancy new camera! We have taken multiple hikes since so I could practice my photography. It is so fun taking pictures with it! The camera also came with 6 photography classes, which I can't wait to use! 

Here are some pictures with the new Sony DSLR:

enjoying multiple gifts at once (dress-up and recorder)

The most photogenic dog in the world!

the hiking princess

12/30 schoolwork

Lo
Kumon cutting

Aud
Math:
- finished Unit 1
- started Unit 2
History:
- Chapter 13
Composition:
- Week 13 Day 3
- Week 13 Day 4
Science:
- Hearing
Spelling:
- finished Lesson 14
Reading:
- finished the Old Testament in The Children's Illustrated Bible
- finished In the Land of the Big Red Apple

12/29/2013 Retro and Planning Meeting

What Went Well

• Audrey is excelling with math facts and spelling
• We managed to fit quite a bit of school in around a fun but BUSY holiday! 

Areas for Improvement

• Coordinate our event calendar with our homeschool schedule more carefully. 
• Audrey is really eager to start spanish again, so we need to get a computer up and running for it. 
• Get back on the bandwagon with our poem practice. 

Action Items

• Complete planning for the year
• Download Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan from the Library, The Saturdays
• Plan library trip and return items that are due
• Try to get a movie in Spanish or a couple books in Spanish

Schedule for the week

• Monday 
• early
• Math: Unit 1 Lesson 3
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, pronunciation 
• Grammar: Lesson 60
• morning
• Spelling: finish lesson 14
• play-date at Athena and Lex's
• afternoon
• Science: Read First Body Encyclopedia about lungs, do narration exercise
  
• Composition : Week 13, day 3 and 4 (The Saturdays)
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading, making spelling fashcards, rhymes and opposites book
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Beauty and The Beast

• Tues
• early
• Math: Unit 2, text book and workbook 
• Spanish: Unit 1, Lesson 1, vocabulary 
• Grammar: Lesson 61
• morning
• shopping for New Years Eve Dinner
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Beauty and The Beast

• Wednesday
• early

• Math: Math: Unit 2, text book and workbook
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, grammar
• Grammar: Lesson 62
• morning
• History: Chapter 13, The New Kingdom of Egypt, review and narration questions
• afternoon
• Spelling: Lesson 15
• Science: Finish Reading about Lungs 
• Composition: Week 14, day 1 and 2
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• dinner time
• Zoe Babysitting

• Thursday
• early
• Math: Unit 2, text book and workbook
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, finish grammar
• Grammar: Lesson 63
• Morning
• Hot Springs in Idaho Springs
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 
• Beauty and The Beast

• Friday 
• early
• Math: Unit 2, text book and workbook
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 2, CORE
• Grammar: Lesson 64
• morning
• Circus Skills
• Spelling: Make Spelling Cards for 14, and 15
• afternoon 
• History: Chapter 13, The New Kingdom of Egypt, review questions, narration, map work and coloring page. 
• Week 14, day 3 and 4
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Saturday 
• The girls are spending the day with Nani while we celebrate our anniversary (10 years!)

• Sunday 
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• afternoon
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple 

working on Math

12/28 schoolwork

Audrey
- History: finished Chapter 12 on the Middle Kingdom of Egypt
- Spelling: started Lesson 12
- Composition: returned letter to Grampsy

Lorelei
- Kumon cutting

12/27 School Work

History: The Middle Kingdom of Egypt, section 1 with review questions and narration
Composition: Week 13, day 2 from The Saturdays
Spelling Bee

Reading to both girls:
2 chapters In The Land Of The Big Red Apple

DK Children's Illustrated Bible:  Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekial

12/24 schoolwork

Grammar lesson 58

Math u1,l2
Lo TYCTR L1

12/23 schoolwork

Math
- U1 L1 numbers 0-10

- Addition facts

Grammar
- Lesson 55 Verna and pronouns

Spelling
- cards
- finished lesson 13

History
- fin ch11 ancient Africa
- review questions
- map work
- Anansi and the Turtle coloring sheet
Composition
- Week 13 Day 1 copy work from The Saturdays
Science
- Reading and dictation on hearing and balance
PE
- swim lessons
 - L swam 7 feet on her own
 - A swam the length of the pool twice

12/22 Retro and Planning

read some day in the life of a homeshooler things
behind in comp, hist for the year
thrown off by the move
comp better in the mornings
cuddle-up reading works well in the afternoon
want to get really regular for nightly reading
A hates sitting at the little table
mornings are A's best time for learning but are full of stuff (swimming, etc)
download audio books from library
get 10-sided dice

Monday
- morning
  - Grammar  FLL: 1
  - Math: Singapore Math Primary Mathematics Textbook 1A STD ED
- afternoon
  - Composition: WWE: 1, Week 13
  - History: SotW1 
  - Spelling: MCPB
  - Science: finish nervous sytem
- evening
  - Reading: to and by
  - planning for math for Tuesday

Tuesday
- morning
  - Grammar  FLL: 1
  - Math: SMPT1A
- afternoon
  - History: SotW1

Wednesday evening
  - Reading: to and by

Thursday evening
  - Reading: to and by
  - planning for math for Friday

Friday
- morning
  - Grammar  FLL: 1
  - Math: SMPT1A
- afternoon
  - Composition: WWE: 1, Week 13
  - Spelling: MCPB
  - History: SotW1 

Saturday- Composition: WWE: 1, Week 13
- Spelling: MCPB
- History: SotW1 
- Reading: to and by
- planning and retro meeting at 2

morning schedule
10 min spelling cards
5 min math fact cards
10 min spanish
10 min grammar
25 min math book
30 min history

12/21 schoolwork

Finished Chapter 10 on ancient China in SotW V1.  Did the first 2/3 of Chapter 11 on ancient Africa.

12/20 schoolwork

Spelling: flashcards from lessons 1 - 13 in MCP SWB

Grammar:
- FLL: 1, Lesson 53 (labeling nouns and verbs)
- pronoun review

Math: addition facts flashcards
Reading:
- ILBRA
- DKCIB -- David, Bathsheba, Absalom, Solomon

12/19 progress

I finished TMCS.  Bumfuzzle have declared an end to their cruising adventures.

12/18, 12/19 schoolwork

12/18
grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 51, action verbs
math: skip counting
spelling drills
science: eyes and nervous system
pe: gymnastics

12/19
math: unit 20 activity 4.  Finished Singapore Kindergarten curriculum
spelling: lesson 11, started lesson 12
spelling drills
math facts drills
pe: swimming lessons

12/17 progress

TMCS Chapter 7

12/17 schoolwork

Math: started activity 20.3
Copywork
Reading:
- ILBRA
- DKCIB -- Saul, David, Michal, Jonathan, Abigail
- Beauty and the Beast, p. 49

12/15 progress

Nearly finished with TMCS.

12/15 schoolwork

12/14/2013 Retro and Planning Meeting

What Went Well

• She is grasping the concept of pronouns.
• Continuing to work on counting money, she doesn't seem to grasp to entire concept yet (i.e: struggling with counting by 10s on the 5). 
• She is enjoying the new spelling method we are using to learn past words and seems enthused. 

Areas for Improvement

• Coordinate our event calendar with our homeschool schedule more carefully. 
• Wake up a little earlier to get back on schedule. 

Action Items

• Complete planning for the year
• Download Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan from the Library
• Create spelling words flash cards
• Plan library trip and return items that are due
• Try to get a movie in Spanish or a couple books in Spanish

Schedule for the week

• Monday 
• early
• Math: Make skip counting flash cards
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, pronunciation 
• Grammar: Illustrated pronouns
• morning
• Swimming (A&L)
• Spelling: Lesson 11
• afternoon
• History: Chapter 10, Ancient China, part 1 and 2 reading, review questions and narration.
• Science: Read First Human Body Encyclopedia on  the Brain and senses (pages 30-47) and complete narration exercises. 
  
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading, making spelling fashcards, rhymes and opposites book
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Beauty and The Beast

• Tuesday 
• early
• Math: Work on flashcards, Activity 20.1
• Spanish: Unit 1, Lesson 1, vocabulary 
• Grammar: Illustrated pronouns
• morning
• Lorelei's school party
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Beauty and The Beast

• Wednesday
• early

• Math: Activity 20.2
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, grammar
• Grammar: Illustrated pronouns
• morning
• afternoon
• Spelling: Make Spelling flashcards (starting with lesson 8), have bee
• Science: Read First Human Body Encyclopedia on  the Brain and senses (pages 30-47) and complete narration exercises. 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• Gymnastics
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Beauty and The Beast

• Thursday
• early
• Math: Activity 20.3
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, finish grammar
• Grammar: Illustrated pronouns 
• Morning
• History: Chapter 10, Ancient China section 3, reading, review questions and narration, plus map work, and coloring page. Review History Encyclopedia on Ancient China
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 
• Beauty and The Beast

• Friday 
• early
• Math: Activity 20.4
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 2, CORE
• Grammar: Illustrated pronouns
• morning
• Circus Skills
• Spelling:Spelling fashcards and bee
• afternoon 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• Children's Opera, The Magic Flute, at Nomad Theater
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Saturday 
• early
• Spelling: Lesson 11
• History: Chapter 11 section 1 (Ancient Africa) 
• afternoon
• Spiral Garden Walk at Gretchen's House (Leave here at 4p)
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Sunday 
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• afternoon
• Nutcracker at Niwot Highschool (leave here at 12:15p)
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple 

12/14 schoolwork

Reading: DKCIB
- "A Son for Zechariah"
- "An Angel Appears to Mary"
- "The Birth of John"
- "The Birth of Jesus"
- "The Shepherds' Visit"
- "The Presentation in the Temple"
- "The Wise Men"
- "The Flight into Egypt"
 
Spelling: lots of flashcards 

Math: Finished SKBT

Composition: WWE: 1, Week 11, Day 3 and WWE: 1, Week 11, Day 4

 

 Lo did some sticker stuff

12/12 schoolwork

Math: continued to work on SKBT, 20.5 on counting money
Grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 49, 1st person plural pronouns
Kinderheart
Fabricate
Saul and the Philistines

12/11 progress

I've finished Chapter 6 in TMCS and started Chapter 7.

12/11 schoolwork

Composition: Week 11, Day 2 Narration
Science:
- Read about muscles in DKFHBE (24-29)
- Narration
Went Robin Crusoe's Most Excellent Adventure
PE: Gymmnastics
Spelling: drill
Math: skip counting and counting money
Reading:
- Audrey read aloud p. 45 of Disney's Beauty and the Beast
- DKCIB -- "The Ark Is Captured," "Saul, the First King of the Israelites"
- LBRA "Back to School"

12/9 schoolwork

Math: 20.4
Grammar: finished lesson 48
Science: read The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body, plus coloring page
Composition: week 12, day 1
Spelling: lesson 10
Reading:
Last of the Harvest, The Big Red Apple
Ruth and Naomi and The Calling of Samuel, Children's Illustrated Bible
Bear Stays Up For Christmas (Audrey read to us)

12/8/2013 School Retro and Planning

What Went Well

• We are starting to see spontaneous composition all of the time. 
• She is super passionate about science right now and can't get enough of learning about the human body. 

Areas for Improvement

• Skipped a lot of spelling as it has become Audrey's last choice when choosing which subject is next.
• Did not successfully download Charlotte's Web.

Action Items

• complete planning for the year
• Download Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan from the Library
• create spelling words flash cards
• plan library trip and return items that are due

Schedule for the week

• Monday 
• early
• Math: 20.4 (counting money) 
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, pronunciation 
• Grammar: lesson 48 (copywork, pronouns)
• morning
• Swimming (A&L)
• Spelling: Lesson 10
• afternoon
• Composition: Week 12, day 1 (Days of the Week poem)
• Science: Read First Human Body Encyclopedia on  Muscles (pages 24- 29) and complete narration exercises. 
  
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading, making spelling fashcards, rhymes and opposites book
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice

• Tuesday 
• early
• Math: 20.5
• Spanish: Unit 1, Lesson 1, vocabulary 
• Grammar: lesson 49 (we, us, our, ours)
• Kinderheart
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice

• Wednesday 
• early
• Math: Unit 20 Review
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, grammar
• Grammar: lesson 50 (they, them, their, their's)
• morning
• Boulder Dinner Theatre's Kids Cabaret
• afternoon
• Composition: Week 12, day 2
• Spelling: Make Spelling flashcards (starting with lesson 6), have bee
• Science: Play Some Body, play with Human Body model and discuss muscles. 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• Gymnastics
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Thursdat
• early
• Math: Activity 20.1 and 20.2
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, finish grammar
• Grammar: lesson 51 (story narration) 
• Kinderheart
• afternoon
• Fabricate
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Friday 
• early
• Math: Activity 20.3 and 20.4
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 2, CORE
• Grammar: lesson 52 (introducing verbs)
• morning
• Circus Skills
• Spelling:Spelling fashcards and bee
• afternoon
• Composition: week 12, day 3
• History: Chapter 10, Ancient China, part 1 and 2 reading, review questions and narration. 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• Children's Opera, The Magic Flute, at Nomad Theater
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Saturday 
• early
• History: Chapter 10, Ancient China section 3, reading, review questions and narration, plus map work, and coloring page. Review History Encyclopedia on Ancient China
• Composition: Week 12, day 4
• Spelling: Lesson 11
• afternoon
• Wesley's Birthday Party at the Children's Museum
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Sunday 
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• afternoon
• Audrey's School Performance, How Raven Stole the Light, and Solstice Festival at Star House
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple 

Audrey's past work in her Human Body Coloring Book

Christmas In The Air!

I love Christmas! All things Christmas! Well, maybe not the shopping mobs and the insane traffic…but everything else. I can barely restrain myself to wait on Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, and I just caught myself daydreaming about taking the month of December off of all activities so that we could focus on going to Christmasy shows and staying home to make crafts.

We had a wonderful family day today! We went to see Frozen with the girls this morning and then during quiet-time Audrey and I worked on some homemade Christmas presents (hint: fairy and tea related) while Lorelei slept. We put up the tree yesterday, so the whole house smells wonderful! It was perfect, sipping tea, listening to music and enjoying the Christmas tree all lit up!

Jacob and I discussed where we thought we would be next year at this time. Maybe on our boat? We might need a smaller tree if that is the case.

12/7 schoolwork

Grammar: 15 pronouns (I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its)
Spelling: practiced some recent spelling words
"I'd Love to be a Fairy's Child" by Robert Graves
  - recitation
  - copywork
Math: counting change
Reading
  - finished LFO
  - first three chapters of  In the Land of the Big Red Apple
History: SotW1
  - read ch 9
    - "The River-Road"
    - "The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro"
  - completed review questions and dictation and copywork for each section
  - mapwork on the Indus river and valley and Mohenjo-Daro
  - colored the Mohenjo-Daro statue and a ceremonial mask
Composition: WWE: 1,
  - Week 11, Day 4,  narration and copywork on The rumpet of the swan

12/7 progress

I forged ahead in TMCS.  

12/6 schoolwork

Math:  worked on counting mixed change
Grammar: reviewed all the pronouns we've learned so far (I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its)
Spanish: finshed Unit 1 > Lesson 1 > Core Lesson
Composition: Week 11 > Day 3 Copywork
Science:

• Finished reading DK First Human Body Encyclopedia, Skeleton chapter
• narration 
• copywork
• coloring

Reading:

• LFO "Jungle of Green," "Spelldown"
• DK Illustrated Children's Bible
• "Balaam's Donkey,"
• "The Promised Land"
• "Rahab and The Spies"
• "The Battle of Jericho"

12/6 progress

I saw this article on Hacker News today: Successful People Start Before They Feel Ready.  It's really just a collection of anecdotes about Richard Branson, but I think the author makes a worthwhile point, and it's actually a point that Pat Schulte makes in Live on the Margin.  Pat also says, paraphrasing, that to wait until you're ready, is a perfect recipe to never actually go.  So anyway, good reminder today.

Undaunted by the risk of overpreparing, however, I did continue to forge ahead in TMCS (The Modern Cruising Sailboat).  

Progress since 11/26

I got really interested in unstayed rigs, in particular cat ketches.  They may not  be the first ones to round the windward buoy, but they may well be the first to make landfall on a tradewind passage, no to mention the much greater simplicity of handling the rig in the general.  There are a number of  interesting and realistically priced boats out there including Freedoms and Tantons.

I forgot to take TMCS for Thanksgiving, but have since gotten back to Chapter 6.

Schoolwork since 11/26

Spanish: Started Unit 1 > Lesson 1 > Core Lesson again.  More hands-on this time.
Math: Lots of work on counting money
Composition: Week 11, Day two
Science: Reading about skeleton
Grammar: working on Lesson 48 (he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its)
PE:

• 2 ski lessons each for both girls
• 2 additional ski days for Audrey

Reading:

• Lots of Bible stories through Moses, the commandments, and the golden calf
• several chapters of  LFO
• Audrey has read aloud several stories

11/25 progress

I finished Chapter 5 on deck gear and layout in TMCS, and have started on Chapter 6.

11/25/13 Schoolwork

• Composition: Week 11, Day 1: copy work (Trumpet of the Swan)
• Spelling: finished lesson 9
• Science: Read 11 pages on Blood and Heart in My First Body Encyclopedia, completed 6 narration sentences. Colored a diagram of the heart from the My Body coloring book.
• Math: finished 20.2, 20.3
• Grammar: lesson 47
• Spanish: Started unit 2> lesson 1> core
• swimming

11/24 schoolwork

Composition: Week 10, Day 4 Sacagawea narration
History: Read Chapter 8 "The Assyrians", answered review questions, colored Hammurabi and the lion
Spelling: started Ch 9
Read Little Farm in the Ozarks

11/25 school retro and planning

What Went Well

• We completed most subjects
• Started human body with lots of enthusiasm! 
• Ate at home more, making bedtime successful and getting up early for school work better. 
• Took advantage of our flexibility to take 2 mornings to count to 1000 out loud together in place of planned math.

Areas for Improvement

• Did not finish the final day of spelling.
• Did not successfully download Charlotte's Web
• Did not do spelling bees most nights 
• Did not recite poetry for the camera or mirror
• Did not complete planned grammar.
• Did not complete every action item.

Action Items

• complete planning for the year
• Download Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan from the Library
• create spelling words flash cards
• get new headphones. 

Shopping/Library List:

• The Magic School Bus: inside the human body
• Uncover the Human Body
• Melissa and Doug floor puzzle
• Rookie Read about Science Series

Schedule for the week

• Monday (11/25)
• early
• Math: Unit 20.2 and 20.3
• Spanish: finish Unit  2> Lesson 1 > Core Lesson 
• Grammar: Lesson 47 (You, your, yours)
• morning
• Swimming (A&L)
• Spelling: finish lesson 10
• afternoon
• Composition, week 11, day 1, Trumpet of the Swan
• Science: Read First Human Body Encyclopedia on Heart and Blood (48-59) and complete narration exercises. 
  
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• Old Testament Stories 

• spending 11/26-12/2 in Breckenridge
• Memorize a poem with GranMiri?
• Would like to continue Spanish Unit 2> Lesson 1> Core Lesson Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday off, Friday Unit 2> Lesson 1> Pronunciation, Saturday Unit 2> Lesson 1> Vocabulary, Sunday Unit 2> Lesson 1> Grammar, Monday off.  GranMiri might want to do this?
• Math activities with GM?
• Old Testament stories

• Tuesday (December 3)
• early
• Grammar: Lesson 48 Pronouns
• Kinderheart
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• Bible Stories 

• Wednesday (December 4)
• early
• Spanish: Unit  2> Lesson  2> Core
• Grammar: Lesson 49 Pronouns
• Math: Unit 20.4
• morning
• Spelling: Lesson 11
• afternoon
• Composition, Week 11, day 2, Trumpet of the Swan
• Science: Play Some Body, play with Human Body model and discuss the heart. 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• Gymnastics
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Thursday (December 5)
• early
• Spanish continue Unit 2> Lesson 2> Core
• Grammar: Lesson 50 Pronouns
• Math: Unit 20.5
• Kinderheart
• afternoon
• Fabricate
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Friday (December 6)
• early
• Spanish finish Unit 2> Lesson 2> Core
• Grammar: Lesson 51 Story Narration
• Math: Unit 20 Review
• morning
• Circus Skills
• Spelling: Lesson 12
• afternoon
• Composition, Week week 11, day 3, Trumpet of the Swan
• History: Chapter 9, The first cities of India and complete review and narration exercise. 
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history, needle felting, listening to audio books, reading
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Saturday (December 7)
• early
• History: Chapter 9 map work, coloring sheet, read History Encyclopedia
• Composition, Week week 11, day 4, Trumpet of the Swan
• Spelling: Lesson 13
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Sunday (December 8)
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

11/22 progress

I finished Chapter 4 on sails and rigging in TMCS, and have made good progress in Chapter 5 on deck and cockpit layout and ground tackle.  We got a good start on evaluating candidates for our new home where we'll hunt for Lark.

11/22 schoolwork

Audrey

• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 10, Day 3,  Sacagawea, Copywork
• Spelling: MCP SWB, lesson 8
• Math: SKBT,  19.1, started 19.2
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 46, Introducing pronouns (I, me, my, mine) 
• History: Read SotW1, Chapter 8: "The Assyrians"
• Audrey started reading A Perfect Match aloud to Lorelei and Dad
• Read to Audrey and Lorelei The Children's Illustrated Bible
• "Abraham's Two Sons"
• "The Sacrifice of Isaac"
• "Isaac and Rebekah"

Lorelei

• Audrey started reading A Perfect Match aloud to Lorelei and Dad
• Read to Audrey and Lorelei The Children's Illustrated Bible
• "Abraham's Two Sons"
• "The Sacrifice of Isaac"
• "Isaac and Rebekah"
• Read LFO, "The New Room"

schoolwork 11.20.13

Audrey

• Spanish: Unit 1, Lesson 4 review, Unit 1, lesson 5 milestone
• Math: counted from 500 to 1000
• Composition: Week 10 day 2
• Spelling: Lesson 7
• Science: colored cell worksheet in human body coloring book
• Audrey read Caterpillar to Butterfly to the family

Both Girls

• Gymnastics
• Read Bible stories

11/19 schoolwork

Audrey and I counted aloud together to 500.

11/18/2013 Schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: SKBT, 19.5, and 19 review
• Spanish:  RSHS continued Unit 1>Lesson 4>Speaking
• Science: Read the introduction in DK First Human Body Encyclopedia, narration, played with her new model (put it together 3 times naming all of the parts)
• Swimming
• Composition week 10 day 1
• Bible Stories: Jacob and Esau
• Audrey read aloud Fancy Nancy

Lorelei

• Bible Stories
• Swimming
• The Little Engine that Could

Our New Human Body, Ali

A couple of weeks ago we were shopping for a birthday present at Grand Rabbits and Audrey fell in love with a human body model. She spent at least 40 minutes oohing and awing over it and reading the entire box. After that she asked if we could please learn about the human body. We were in the middle of learning about animals in science, but that is the nice thing about homeschooling. Change of plans!

We originally planned to do 20 weeks of animals, 10 weeks of human body, and 6 weeks of plants and gardening. We had only made it through 10 weeks of animals, so we plan to go back to it before plants.

We started human body today, and after we had read the introduction of our new book we unveiled the pièce de résistance, the model!  She was so excited. We put it together several times, and then she even named it, Ali.

11/16 schoolwork

Audrey

• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 9, Day 3,  Charlotte's Web narration
• History: SotW1, Chapter 7,  "Hammurabi and the Babylonians," mapwork, crossword, coloring

Weekly retro and planning, 11/16/2013

What Went Well

• Memorized a new poem. Didn't get to recitation, but it was fun working on the memorization
• Audrey read to me lots
• Math was a success! Audrey totally grasps counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s
• Audrey created a bunch of her own spelling flash cards

Areas for Improvement

• Stayed out late too many nights, and only read before bed 2 nights
• Only finished 2 days of spelling
• Forgot to read the History Encyclopedia on Saturday
• Didn't practice spelling

Action Items

• complete planning for the year
• Download Charlotte's Web from the Library
• order 1st grade Singapore Math
• create spelling words flash cards
• Replace our current children's bible with the DK Illustrated Children's Bible

Shopping/Library List:

• The Magic School Bus: inside the human body
• Uncover the Human Body
• Melissa and Doug floor puzzle
• Rookie Read about Science Series
• Somebody: 5 human anatomy games

Schedule for the week

• Monday
• early
• Math: 19.5
• Spanish: finish Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Writing
• Grammar: Lesson 46, Introducing pronouns (I, me, my, mine)
• morning
• Swimming (A&L)
• Spelling: Lesson 6
• afternoon
• Composition, Week 10 Day 1, Davy Crockett copywork
• Science: read the intro to the DK First Human Body Encyclopedia; narration exercise
  
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• Bible Stories 54-69 (Esau and Jacob)

• Tuesday
• early
• Math: Unit 19 review
• Spanish: Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Speaking
• Grammar: Lesson 47 Pronouns (you, your, yours)
• Kinderheart
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• reading
• Bible Stories  70-81 (Joseph)

• Wednesday
• early
• Math: 20.1
• Spanish: Unit 1 > Lesson 5 > Milestone
• Grammar: Lesson 47 Pronouns (you, your, yours)
• morning
• Spelling: Lesson 7
• afternoon
• Composition, Week 10 Day 2, Davy Crockett narration
• Science: Play Some Body
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history
• Gymnastics
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Thursday
• early
• Math: 20.2
• Spanish
• Grammar: Lesson 48 Pronouns (he, she, him, her, it, his hers its)
• Kinderheart
• afternoon
• Fabricate
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Friday
• early
• Math: 20.3
• Spanish
• Grammar: Lesson 49 Pronouns (We, us, our, ours)
• morning
• Circus Skills
• Spelling: Lesson 8
• afternoon
• Composition, Week 10 Day 3, Sacagawea copywork
• History: Chapter 8: The Assyrians. Read, complete review questions and narration exercise.
• Quiet time (self directed time)
• options include, correspondence, handwriting, art for science or history
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Saturday 
• early
• History: Chapter 8: The Assyrians: map work, coloring page and read out of History Encyclopedia
• Composition, Week 10 Day 3, Sacagawea narration
• Spelling: Lesson 9
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

• Sunday
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Spelling bee
• Reading
• Bible Stories 

10/14, 10/15 progress

Made headway in Chapter 4 on sails and rigging in TMCS.

11/15 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: SKBT, 19.3, 19.4
• Spanish:  RSHS continued Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Writing
• History: SotW1, Read Chapter 7,  "Hammurabi and the Babylonians," did review questions and narration
• Circus skills class

Lorelei

• Read LFO, "Abe's Wolf Story," and "Fresh Greens"

11/14 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: SKBT, 19.1, 19.2
• Spanish:  RSHS started Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Writing
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 45: 4 types of nouns
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 9, Day 3,  Charlotte's Web copywork 
• Kinderheart

10/13 progress

Made headway in Chapter 4 on sails and rigging in TMCS.

11/13 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: SKBA, Unit 18 activity 5.  Finished Unit 18.
• Spanish:  RSHS 
• Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Listening
• Unit 1 > Lesson 3 > Review
• Unit 1 > Lesson 4 > Vocabulary
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 44 Nouns (ideas)
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 9, Day 2,  Charlotte's Web narration
• Science, Reading: Audrey read DK First Animal Encyclopedia pp. 20, 21 on bears
• PE: gymnastics
• Reading:
• to her: RLBSFONT pp. 37 - 55 (Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah)
• by her: started reading DK First Human Body Encyclopedia

Lorelei

• Science: browsed DK First Animal Encyclopedia together
• PE: gymnastics
• Reading: 
• Read Little Farm in the Ozarks, "Tree-Topping"
• RLBSFONT

Now What?

We sold the house, started homeschooling, have set an end date to our time in Colorado....but now what? We aren't sure where we will go in June when our lease ends.

Here are some of the places we are considering:

• Seattle
• Portland
• San Francisco
• San Diego
• La Paz
• South Florida (Ft. Lauderdale?)
• North Carolina
• Chesapeake
• Hawaii
• New Zealand

This is a partially brainstormed list of the criteria we want to use to decide:

• How big the boat market is
• Boat Prices
• Slip Prices
• Can we live aboard year round
• Job Market
• Weather
• How easy is it to practice our cruising
• availability of cruising training
• Cost of living

In other news, we are unpacking very slowly, but it is starting to come together. We will probably be done just in time to sell it all and move again. One of my big goals for the next move is to find a way to offer lots of stability to the girls. This last move from Nederland was harder on us all then we had hoped for. We were deeply connected to both the town/people and the house. Also, because the girls were acting so excited about the apartment, it never crossed my mind that it was the only home they had ever had.

The first few days in the apartment were wonderful for them. They loved the novelty of sleeping in the same room! It was like vacation. Then after a few days Audrey asked, 'Mom, can we go home now?' That was a little heartbreaking. I still believe that this all will be a wonderful experience for our family that will be incredibly bonding...but the transitions are hard. 

Riding her imaginary unicorn Starlight

practicing her gymnastics moves

Grampsy flew in just for Lorelei's birthday!