9/30 progress

I've been continuing to get a lot out of BOS.  Cap'n Fatty has a lot of cool ideas for cheap cruising.

We're packing and packing, and April is selling and selling.

9/30 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, Lesson 29, "y with a vowel/y as a vowel" (pp. 117-120)
• Math: SKBT, 15.7, "Subtraction" (pp. 79-80) 
• Reading:  
• to her: Iliad, "The Luck of Troy"
• by her: Mittens
• Spanish: RSHS Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 4, Grammar
• Composition: WWE: 1, started Week 5 Days 1 (Narration and Copywork, on the brothers Grimm)
• History: SotW1 map work, coloring page, rough draft narration and copywork for Chapter 4, "The Old Kingdom of Egypt", sections 1, 2 "Making Mummies," and "Egyptian Pyramids"
• Poem memorization: worked on "For Katrina's Sundial," Henry van Dyke

both: PE: swim lessons

School plan for the week of 9/29/2013

Schedule for the week

• Monday
• 6:30a -7:30a
• Spanish Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 4, Grammar
• Math 15.7 - 15.8
• Grammar Lesson 21
• 9:15a Leave for Swimming
• 10:30a - 11:30a Swimming Lessons
• 1:45p - 3:00p nap (fun reading, notebook page, handwriting)
• 3:00p - 4:30p
• Spelling Lesson 29
• Composition Week 5 Day 1
• History map work, coloring page, rough draft narration and copywork for Chapter 4, "The Old Kingdom of Egypt", sections 1, 2 "Making Mummies," and "Egyptian Pyramids"
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?
• Tuesday:
• 6:30a -7:30a
• Spanish Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 5, Pronunciation
• Math Unit 15 Review
• Grammar Lesson 22
• 7:30a drop off Lorelei at Aspen Grove (until 3:30p) and leave for Kinderheart
• 9a-3p Kinderheart
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?
• Wednesday
• 6:30a -7:30a
• Spanish Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 6
• Math Unit 15 Activity 1
• Grammar Lesson 23
• 9:00a-10:30a
• Spelling Lesson 30
• Composition Week 5 Day 2
• History reading, narration and copywork for Chapter 5
• 2:30 - 4:30p Nap (notebook page, fun reading)
• 4:30p Audrey dance class
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?
• Thursday
• 6:30a -7:30a
• Spanish start Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 2 Section1
• Math Unit 15 Activity 2,3
• Grammar Lesson 24
• 7:30a drop off Lorelei at Aspen Grove (until 3:30p) and leave for Kinderheart
• 9a-3p Kinderheart
• 3:30p-5:30p 
• Fabricate Camp
• 4:45p Lorelei dance class
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?

• Friday
• 6:30a -7:30a
• Spanish finish Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 2 Section1
• Math Unit 15 Activity 4,5
• Grammar Lesson 25
• 8:30a - 11a
• Spelling Lesson 30
• Composition Week 5 Day3
• Science (chimps)
• 11a-1:30p
• either Shoshoni yoga or picnic at the park
• 1:30p - 3:30p Nap (notebook page)
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?

• Saturday
• 8a-11a
• Composition Week 4 Day 4 (narration pages 13-14)
• History Map work and coloring page
• Spanish Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 2 Section 2
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?

• Sunday
• dinner time
• poem memorization
• spelling bee
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, Spanish 
• Lorelei: poetry and stories, TYCTR?

9/28 schoolwork (rough)

HS journal 9/28
grammar
    lessons 14 "middle names," 16 "full names," 17 "names of places," 18 "your city and state," 19 "places," 20 "states" (pp22, 24-29)
composition
    week 4 day 4 narration and copywork "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
history
    week3 "The First Writing"
        mapwork
        coloring page
        cuneiform writing
    week 4 "The Old Kingdom of Egypt"
        read both sections of chapter "Making Mummies," "Egyptian Pyramids"
        did review qsts for both set ions
    reading the history encyc
        "The First Farmers," "The First Towns," "The First Cities," "Crafts and Trade," "Kings and War," "Farmers of the Nile Valley," "Mummies and Pyramids"
swimming
    Audrey's doing great kicking and reaching with her arms and treading water
    Lorelei is like a little adorable fishy.  She's really fast in the water, but scarily brave about pushing off and swimming even though she doesn't know how to get her head out of the water. 
tyctr L1
rose cave
the yarn of the nancy ellen

9/27 progress

I'm getting to the good parts of BOS. 

9/27 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: 
• MCP A, finished Lesson 28, s blends (pp. 115-116)
• Math: SKBT, 15.4-15.6, Subtraction (pp. 73-78)
• Reading:
• to her: Iliad, "Ransom for Hector"
• by her:  Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl
• Spanish: RSHS Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Sections 3, 4
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lesson 13, (pp. 19,20) 
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 4 Days 2,3 (Narration and Copywork, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll )  
• Handwriting: finished ZBHK
• Science
• read about turtles and tortoises in our DK animal encyclopedia
• narration exercise
• copywork exercise
• drew and colored a picture of a turtle

Lorelei

• Read lots of poetry

9/26 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: 
• MCP A, started Lesson 28, s blends (pp. 113-114)
• bee with Mom
• Math: SKBT, 15.1-15.3, "Subtraction" (pp. 65-73) 
• Reading: Iliad, "Funeral Games"
• Spanish: RSHS Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 2, Pronunciation
• Sewing: made a pair of pajama pants
• Kinderheart

Lorelei

• PE: dance class
• Reading: lots of poetry 
• Memorization work

9/25 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, finished Lesson 27, l blends
• Math: SKBA finished activities for Unit 14
• PE: dance class 
• Spanish: RSHS Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 1, "Core"

9/24 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spanish: RSHS Level 1 Unit 1 Lesson 1 Section 1, "Core"
• Handwriting: ZBHK, pp. 104-111, 114-116
• memory work

Lorelei

•  Reading:
  
• Tiki Tiki Tembo
• The Little Engine That Could

both

• Science: Denver Aquarium trip

9/23 progress

I finished TSOS and have returned to BOS. 

9/23 schoolwork

Audrey:

• PE: swim lesson
• Spanish: unit 1, lesson 1
• Reading: Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Vengeance for Patroclus"
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lessons 12 "Story narration: 'The Lion and the Mouse'" (pp. 19,20)
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 4 Day 1 (Copywork, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll ) 
• Handwriting: ZBHK, pp. 96-103
• History: 
• Read SotW1 Chapter 3, "The First Writing, Hieroglyphs and Cuneiform," 
• narration and copywork exercise

Lorelei

• PE: swim lesson
• Learned to spell "Lorelei" and "Audrey"
• Read lots of poems

9/22 schoolwork

Iliad

9/21 schoolwork

history:

• map work on Upper and Lower Egypt
• narration and copywork on Set and Osiris
• coloring page on Set and Osiris

composition: narration and copywork on Rumpelstiltzken
grammar: lesson 10

Weekly Planning Meeting and Retro 9/22 - 9/29/2013

What went well

• Finished planned composition, science, and history.
• Audrey has been more excited to read to herself.
• Continued reading the Iliad daily
• Started Rosetta Stone for Spanish and it went well. 
• Started doing spelling bees and Audrey loves it.
• Audrey is really starting to grasp addition and the concept of counting on. 
• Audrey's handwriting is really improving.
• Audrey's fluency is really nice when she is reading.
• Lorelei has begun asking for 'word games', i.e. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
• Put up our new fairy calendar and marking off days, and writing in upcoming important events. 

Areas for improvement

• Didn't finish planned grammar, math, and spelling.
• Had to do two composition lessons in one day in order to catch up.
• Over-planned morning homeschooling with guests in town, and we are now behind in math and spelling.
• Would like to spend a little more time having Audrey read to us.
• Keep memorization fun. 
• Find daily activity for Lorelei and Daddy. 

Action Items

• Figure out when to practice Spanish. 
• Pick a short fun poem to help Lorelei like memorizing again.
• Put all Audrey's new spelling words into a flash card deck.
• Put addition facts into a flash card deck.
• Find a flash card app for the Kindle. 
• Decide if we should have scheduled times for spelling bees, math bees, and poetry practice that isn't at meal times.
• Return library books and get new library books for history and science. 
• Download new audio books (check about The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairy Land, Lord of the Rings, Pinocchio) 
• Show April the Spanish software
• Film poem recitation of all our poems.

Schedule for the week

• Monday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math 
• unit 14, activity 3 and 4, pages 45-52
• spelling 
• page 112, finish lesson 27, blends with L
• 9:15a Leave for Swimming
• 10:30a - 11:30a Swimming Lessons
• 1:45p - 3:00p nap (fun reading, notebook page, handwriting)
• 3:00p - 4:30p
• grammar
• lesson 12, story narration "The Lion and The Mouse" pages 19, 20
• composition (2 lessons)
• week 4 days 1 and 2, copywork and narration from Alice's adventures in Wonderland pages 11-13
• history 
• Chapter 3, section 1"Hieroglyphs and Cuneiform" pages 21-24
• review question and narration from activity book page 11
• spanish
• dinner time
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry
• Tuesday:
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math
• unit 14, activity 5, pages 52-53 
• lesson 15.1, pages 55-56
• spelling
• page 113-115, beging lesson 28, blends with S 
• 7:30a drop off Lorelei at Aspen Grove (until 3:30p) and leave for Kinderheart
• 9a-3p Kinderheart
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry
• Wednesday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math 
• lesson 15.2 and 15.3, pages 68-72
• spelling
• page 116, finish lesson 28, blends with S 
• 8:30a- 2:30p 
• Aquarium field trip (studying frogs and turtles)
• 2:30 - 4:30p Nap (notebook page, fun reading)
• 4:30p Audrey's dance
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, Spanish 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry
• Thursday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math 
• lesson 15.4 and 15.5, pages 73-76
• spelling 
• page 117-119, begin lesson 29, Y with a vowel, Y as a vowel
• 7:30a drop off Lorelei at Aspen Grove (until 3:30p) and leave for Kinderheart
• 9a-3p Kinderheart
• 3:30p-5:30p 
• Fabricate Camp
• 4:45p Lorelei's dance class
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry

• Friday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math 
• lesson 15.6 and 15.7, pages 77-80
• spelling
• page 120, finish lesson 29, Y with a vowel, Y as a vowel
• 8:30a - 11a
• grammar
• lesson 13, proper nouns, page 21
• composition
• week 4 day 3 (copywork page 13)
• Spanish
• science (turtles)
• 11a-1:30p
• either Shoshoni yoga or picnic at the park
• 1:30p - 3:30p Nap (notebook page)
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry 

• Saturday
• 8a-11a
• grammar
• lesson 14, proper nouns, page 22
• composition
• week 4 day 4 (narration pages 13-14)
• history
• map work
• coloring page, carving hieroglyphs student page 9
• write your name in Cuneiform
• Spanish
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry

• Sunday
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, Spanish 
• Lorelei: reading aloud, including poetry

In the zone reading

9/20 progress

We've been making good daily progress in homeschooling.  Slow but steady wins the race.

I've been continuing to learns lots in TSOS and TMCS: ACGDCO.

I'm not sure how happy I am with this new blog arrangement where progress reports and journal entries no longer get front page billing. 

9/20 schoolwork

Audrey:

• Spelling: 
• MCP A, Lesson 27, l blends (pp. 111)
• dinner-time spelling bee
• Math: SKBA Unit 14 "Addition," 1, 2

both

• field trip to the Denver Zoo

9/19 schoolwork

Audrey:

• Reading:
• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Battle for the Ships"
• Strike Three, Marley
• Spelling: MCP A, started Lesson 27, l blends (pp. 109-110)
• Math: SKBT, 14.5-14.7, Unit 14 Review, finished Unit 14 "Addition" (pp. 57-64) 

9/18 schoolwork

Audrey:

• Reading:
• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Red Rain"
• The Too Big Tutu
• Spelling: MCP A, finished Lesson 26, r blends
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lessons 9 "Introducing picture narration: 'Children Playing on the Beach'" (pp. 14,15)
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 3 Day 2 (Rumpelstiltzkin narration) 
• Science:
• read about lions, pumas, jaguars
• narration and copywork on each
• coloring page on lions
• Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, pp. 95

9/17 progress

OK, OK, back to the routine.  I always seem to lose the rhythm when we have guests.  Anyway, I can't put down TSOS.  It's a page turner.  I've learned lots about anchors and windvanes and steering with the rig, and cooking fuel and heads and stuff like that.  Great stuff!

With all the canyons being closed due to floods, as well as Audrey's homeschool supplemental program down in Boulder, and our sitter for the Tuesday and Thursday sessions having been traumatized by having had to evacuate her house, remote first aid is not happening this week.  We'll have to sign up for the next session.

9/13 schoolwork

Audrey:

• read to her:
• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Single Combat"
• recited "If Little Red Riding Hood" by Jeff Moss

Reading to Lorelei:

• Little House on Rocky Ridge, "Stubborn Land"

• "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", John Keats
• "Symphony in Yellow", Oscar Wilde
• "A Thing of Beauty", John Keats

9/12 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, started Lesson 26, r blends (pp. 105-107)
• Math: SKBT, 14.3-14.4, "Addition" (pp. 53-55)
• Reading to Audrey:
• Night of the New Magicians, pp.1-11
• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Quarrel with the High King"

Lorelei

• Reading to Lorelei
• Little House on Rocky Ridge, "Rabbit Stew"
• "A Lark's Nest", Christopher Smart
• "Piping Down the Valleys Wild", William Blake
• "When in Disgrace With Fortune", William Shakespeare
• "In the Highlands", Robert Louis Stevenson
• "Canadian Boat Song"
• "Spring and Fall", Gerard Manley Hopkins
• "So, We'll Go No More A-Roving", George Gordon, Lord Byron

9/11 progress

Forging on in TSOS.

First aid is next week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  16 hours altogether.

9/11 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, Lesson 25, review of long a, long i, long o, long, and ou (pp. 101-104)
• Math: SKBT, 14.1-14.2, "Addition" (pp. 50-52)

 We'll be taking a week off from our schedule to enjoy a visit from Grampsy and Holly, though we are planning to continue math, spelling, and the Iliad.

9/10 progress

Forging ahead in TSOS.

Our closing is moved to 10/22.

9/10 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, finished Lesson 24, "Words with ou and ow" (pp. 99,100 )
• Math: Singapore KB activity, Unit 13, "Number bonds", activity 3 (pp. 34-36)
• Reading aloud to: Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "Ship-gathering"

Lorelei

•  Little House on Rocky Ridge, "A Walk in the Woods"
• "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat," Edward Lear  

9/9 progress

We got our Rosetta Stone Spanish stuff today.  Can't wait to get into it.  It's such a cool program.

We did our homeschool retro and planning meeting yesterday.

I've been learning lots from Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat: A Guide to Essential Features, Handling, and Gear.

9/9 schoolwork

Audrey

• Spelling: MCP A, started Lesson 24, "Words with ou and ow" (pp. 97,98 )
• Math: Singapore KB activity, Unit 13, "Number bonds", activities 1,2 (pp. 28-33)
• History: Read SotW1 Chapter 2, "Egyptians Lived on the Nile River," first section, "Two Kingdoms Become One," and did the narration exercise
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 3 Day 1 (Rumpelstiltzkin copywork)
• Grammar: FLL: 1, Lessons 8 "Common and proper nouns" (pp. 12, 13) 
• Handwriting: 
• Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, pp. 93,94
• Audrey asked for extra practice and did ~10 each capital and lowercase letters, A-J
• Reading aloud
• by: Prince Grover and Rhyming Rapunzel (twice)
• to: Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad, "The Golden Apple"
• PE: swim lessons

Lorelei

•  Reading aloud
• The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale 
• Baby Lion
• Time to Go Home, Little Bunny
• bible story reader (the prodigal son, Jesus and the children, and John the Baptist)
• PE: swim lessons

Weird Hippies

My friend Paul was telling me a story about when he told some of his friends from Illinois about us and said, "you would think they were weird hippies or something, but they're not...they are pretty normal." I feel like this is the reaction we get a lot from people! Kinda like "Wow, but you look so normal!" After the prerequisite 20 questions (which we welcome) most people are very supportive, and excited for us, and hopefully will plan a visit to see us at some point. We have had our skeptics too...and either reaction is honestly fine with us. I take skepticism as a sign that we are cared for...but it isn't going to change our minds :). As an aside, for those skeptics out there, please stop talking to my dad! He is already freaked out enough!

The large number of varying reactions has really made me think about why this plan is the right choice for our family, because obviously it is not the right choice for many. I think first it just feels right. In the beginning when we started discussing it I felt excited. I will definitely miss many aspects of our current life and I feel like spending the last 7 years in Nederland has been perfect for us. It has been a wonderful place to have babies and here we have been constantly surrounded by supportive friends. Although I will miss my friends, I'm excited for our next chapter.

Jacob and I really fell in love having adventures. On our first date we stayed up until 2a.m. talking about all the adventures we had had, and the ones we were still hoping to have. I think it was one of the first things we bonded over, and great adventures still get us both worked up!

One other reaction has been one of excitement, but "shouldn't you wait and do it after the kids are out of the house, so they can go to school?" Our feeling is that having these adventures with our children will bond us with them in a new and special way. Also, it is so amazing to see new things through your children's eyes...even the zoo has taken on new wonder to me in the last 5 years, and I can't wait to see the world with them!

I will really miss seeing all of the wonderful friends I have made here regularly. I have moved many times in my life and I have lost friends in each move, but the friends I have kept are still incredibly special to me. Friends that are meant to be in your life, stay in your life! Take Paul, for example. Plus, I think the internet will help a little this time around.

my pals...you can almost see the double rainbow behind us

Audrey and I made these cupcakes for her friends

ready for dance class

Lorelei's 1st dance class

fun at the park with Daddy 

weekly retro and planning 9/8/13 - 9/22/13

What went well

• Finished planned curricula

Areas for improvement

• Work on patience/logistics when working 2 on 1.  Providing value for Lorelei too, and not just simply keeping her busy. 
• Missed library trip.
• Work on addressing goofing directly and empathically versus with frustration and snapping. 

Action Items

• Pick simpler poems and be more structured with memorizing and reciting.
• Plan time to go to the library. 
• Parents get to bed earlier to better capitalize on good learning time. 
• download some new audio books for Audrey (pinnochio?) (lord of the rings?)
• www.greathall.com, audio book called Egyptian stories, mummies and myths
• plan field trip to see some big cats for science

Schedule for the week

• Monday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 13 activity 1, 2 and 3
• spelling begin 24
• 10:30a -11:30a 
• swimming lessons
• 1:30 - 3:30p nap-time
• practice spelling words
• fun reading
• notebook page
• 3p -4:30p
• Grammar lesson 8
• Composition week 3 day 1 (copy work)
• Handwriting capital V
• History chapter 2, page 14 section 1
• ask discussion questions page 7 in activity book
• do narration exercise (brief 2-5 sentence summary of chapter including several important facts)
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Tuesday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 13 activity 4 and 5
• spelling finish 24
• 8a 
• drop Lorelei at Aspen Grove
• 9a
• Audrey's 1st day at Kinderheart (parents stay for opening ceremony)
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Wednesday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14.1 and 14.2
• spelling begin 25
• Grampsy and Holly arrive in the afternoon.
• 1:30 - 3:30p nap-time
• practice spelling words
• fun reading
• notebook page
• 3:30p
• Audrey's dance lesson
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Thursday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14.3 and 14.4
• spelling finish 25
• 8a 
• Lorelei at AG, Audrey at KH
• 4:45p Lorelei's dance
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Friday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14.5 and 14.6
• spelling begin 26
• 1:30 - 3:30p nap-time
• practice spelling words
• fun reading
• notebook page
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Saturday
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Sunday
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Monday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14.7 and unit 14 review
• spelling finish 26
• 10:30a - 11:30a
• swimming lessons
• 1:30 - 3:30p nap-time
• practice spelling words
• fun reading
• notebook page
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Tuesday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14 activities 1 and 2
• spelling begin 27
• 8a 
• Lorelei at AG, Audrey at KH
• Grampsy and Holly leave in the afternoon.
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Wednesday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14 activities 3 and 4
• spelling finish 27
• 8a-9:30a
• Grammar lesson 9
• Handwriting v
• Composition week 3 day 2 (narration)
• 10a Library trip
• history books
• science books
• 1:30 - 3:00p nap-time
• science 
• reading: big cats
• narration page
• illustrations/coloring page
• fun reading
• notebook page
• 3:30p
• Audrey's dance lesson
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Thursday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 14 activity 5
• spelling begin 28
• 8a 
• Lorelei at AG, Audrey at KH
• 4:45p Lorelei's dance
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Friday
• 6:45a -7:30a
• math unit 15.1 and 15.2
• spelling finish 28
• 1:30 - 3:30p nap-time
• practice spelling words
• fun reading
• notebook page
• 3:30 - 4:30p
• Grammar lesson 10
• Handwriting Y
• Composition week 3 day 3 
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Saturday
• 8a - 11a
• Grammar lesson 11
• History chapter 2, page 18 section 2
• ask discussion questions page 7 in activity book
• do narration exercise (brief 2-5 sentence summary of chapter including several important facts)
• mapwork and coloring page
• Handwriting y
• Composition week 3 day lesson 4
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud
• Sunday
• bedtime
• Audrey: reading to us, reading Iliad to her 
• Lorelei: reading aloud

9/7 progress report

I'm really enjoying the Goodlander book, and it's making me think about boat-buying a little differently.  I'm not sure just how completely we'll end up embracing the approach of buying a boat with a major problem and a ticking clock, but certainly the ticking clock sounds good.  I have yet to read Cap'n Fatty's master plan for rehabbing a boat, but hopefully it won't involve years of work.  We'll see.  He's certainly an engaging writer, one way or the other.

We're trying to make ourselves get serious about moving out but it's kinda hard...

9/7 schoolwork

Audrey

• Composition: WWE: 1, 
• Week 2 Day 3 (Pinnochio copywork)
• Week 2 Day 4 (Pinnochio narration)
• History: Finished with SotW1 Chapter 1 "The Earliest People"
• narration
• mapwork
• colored an illustration of a farmer using a shaduf in the Fertile Crescent
• Reading
• by her:
•  The Perfect Dress
• to her:
• some of Pinocchio
• some nursery rhymes

Lorelei

•  Read to her:
• Little House on Rocky Ridge, "Mama's Window" 
• "How Doth the Little Crocodile," Lewis Carroll
• "The Herring Loves the Merry Moonlight," Sir Walter Scott
• "The Maldive Shark," Herman Melville
• "My Cat Jeoffry," Christopher Smart
• "The Owl," Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• "The Eagle," Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• "The Tyger," William Blake
• "The Rainbow," Christina Rosetti
• "Winter," William Shakespeare

both

• Read to them:
• Finished DBGM pp. 178-189

9/6 progress report

Some new cruising books came.  I put a good dent in Buy, Outfit, Sail: How To Inexpensively and Safely Buy, Outfit, and Sail a Small Vessel Around the World. 

We put in a solid week of schoolwork with the girls.

We finally reached a decision on the RV thing.  We're going to find a modest apartment with a 6-month lease and skip the RV at least for now.  It might be a bit cheaper, but it would be a lot more stressful and not in any way that particularly advances our ultimate goals.  In short, we felt it was likely to become a big distraction from actually sailing away.

9/6 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: Singapore KB text 13.7 and Unit 13 Review, (pp. 45-48).  Finished Unit 13 in the textbook.
• Spelling: MCP A, finished Lesson 23 (pp. 96 ) 
• wrote 2 sentences on birds
• proofreading exercise
• Grammar: FLL: 1, p. 7-10 (Lessons 5,6) 
• narration, "The Rabbit and the Turtle"
• proper nouns, first names
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 1 Day 2
• Geppetto narration
• Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, pp. 90-92
• History: 
• read Me and My Family Tree
• Science:
• First Animal Encyclopedia on shrimp, other crustaceans
• read sea floor book
• dictation on shrimp
• made 3 pictures illustrating interesting things about shrimp
• 10 legs
• clean the mouths of fish
• no spines, just shells
• Reading
• to:  DBGM, The Boar Hunt of Calydonia (pp. 176-177)
• by: princess reader 30 pgs 

Lorelei

• Reading

• Tiki Tiki Tembo
• The Runaway Bunny
• "Kubla Khan," Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• "The Fairies," William Allingham
• "La Belle Dame sans Merci," John Keats

9/5 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: Singapore KB text 13.5-13.6, (pp. 41-44)
• Spelling: MCP A, continued Lesson 23 (pp. 95 ) 
• Reading
• to:  DBGM, Jason and the Argonauts (pp. 162-175)
• by: princess reader ~20 pgs  
• Mountain Movers

Lorelei

• Reading to:

• Little House on Rocky Ridge, "The Henhouse"
• "The Ecchoing Garden," William Blake

both

• Reading to:
• "She Walks on Beauty," George Gordon, Lord Byron
• "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" William Shakespeare
• "Blow, Bugle, Blow," Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Learning to Homeschool

You wouldn't think the transition from stay-at-home mom to homeschooling mom would be that huge, especially when my oldest is only 5....but it has been a real adjustment. I'm not sure if it is the school work added into our schedule, or just the pressure of figuring out our next step toward cruising, but the last week or so has felt super busy. We do not spend all that much time on school work, but we do transition a lot more now(eating, school, playing, eating, napping, school, playing, eating)...and our whole day is not just one long play-date. Oh- and I would love some advice on entertaining a 2 year old while trying to focus on a 5 year old...and how to keep the five year old focused when all of a sudden the two year old's activity looks like more fun! 

Here is the list of things I thought of for Lorelei: 

• Coloring workbook
• Tracing workbook
• Cutting workbook
• Wooden blocks
• Geometric shapes
• Alphabet stacker
• Beading
• Sticker pictures
• Lacing animals
• Puzzle
• Dressing dollies
• Coloring
• educational iPhone game with headphones
• Rosetta Stone (this is still in the mail, but supposedly the kids are supposed to be able to do it independently, and there are setting to do it without reading and writing to start)

Here are some pictures of our homeschooling adventures from the past week: 

story-time at the library

impromptu lesson on earthworms

starting our new science project: growing sea monkeys (brine shrimp)

field trip to the museum with my little ferocious dinosaur

IMAX about butterflies

looking at the sun

meeting some new homeschooling friends while picking pears

pear picking

9/4 progress

I've got lots of projects in flight here:

• getting together lots of work history documentation for work visas
• getting passports squared away
• wilderness first aid
• figuring out where to go 
• learning about boats
• learning celestial navigation
• homeschooling
• keeping up our inspiration
• developing income potential (e.g. delivery, maintenance, etc.)

Wow.  I need to actually finish something.

At least we got something squared away:  we declare that our last day in CO is 5/31/2014.  Where to next?  Dunno.  The coast.  TBD.

OK, off to read about first aid. 

Adios.

9/4 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: Singapore KB text 13.4, (pp. 39-40)
• Spelling: MCP A, pp. 93-94 (started Lesson 23) 
• Composition: WWE: 1, Week 2 Day 1 (Pinnochio copywork)
•  Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K, p. 88-89

Lorelei

• Mountain Movers 
• Reading aloud

• The Little Engine That Could
• Noni the Pony
• Little House on Rocky Ridge, "Waiting for Papa"  

both

• Reading Aloud
• DBGM, (Oedipus)

9/3 progress

We'll read first aid tonight.  Good times!

9/3 schoolwork

Audrey

• Reading aloud
• Audrey, April took turns reading to finish MTH: Dinosaurs Before Dark 
• Audrey read aloud one of her princess stories to April
• DGM pp. 149-159 (Theseus)
• Math: Singapore KB text 13.1 - 13.3 , pp. 33-38)
• Spelling: MCP A, pp. 92 (finished Lesson 22)

Lorelei

• Reading aloud
• Bear Snores On
• Goodnight Moon
• The Little Engine That Could

9/2 progress report

We read another section of our remote first aid manual.  It's lousy with initialisms: ABCDE is for for airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure; LOC is for level of consciousness, which is rated on the AVPU scale of alert, responsive to verbal stimulus, responsive to pain, or unconscious.  Those are just the few I can remember off the top as I lie here.  

Well, g'night...

9/1 schoolwork

DGM (Sisyphus, Bellerophon)

9/2 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: finished Unit 12 in Singapore KB text (12.5, 12.6, Review, pp. 27-31)
• History: 
• read SotW1 Chapter 1
• Answered questions and did narration for the first section
• Reading aloud
• DGM pp. 130-148 (Melampus, Heracles) 
• Memorization: Nearly finished memorizing "If Little Red Riding Hood ..." by Jeff Moss

both

• MTH: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Ch 7, 8, 9)

9/1 progress

We got started on Lin and Larry's Cost Conscious Cruiser.

We looked at some apartments and RV parks yesterday to try to get a handle on what we'll do next.

I continued research on passports, and spent some time looking into marine diesel and electric training programs, both in the interest of our own maintenance and as a possible revenue stream for when we're out. The School of Sailing & Seamanship looks pretty good, as does the Annapolis School of Seamanship.

I've also been looking into courses on USCG Captains' licensing programs, as the credential would certainly smooth the way for chartering and delivery income.  Mariners Learning System looks pretty cool...

To RV or not to RV

We have been seriously contemplating getting an RV after the house sells and living in that until we find our boat. Jacob would like to stick around Colorado through the spring though, for his job, which would mean spending the winter in this cold climate.

After doing lots of research on exactly where we would park all winter we discovered that most RV parks close in October and only a small number stay open all year and have full hook ups. There is a really beautiful one in downtown Golden, right on the creek with a lovely park next door, that looks just right. The only problem is that it is extremely hard to get into to. It is small and fills up fast for the winter. The advice from the people that work there is to show up on September 17th, when they are still on a 14 day maximum stay schedule and park your RV, then on October 1st, when they go to monthly rental you are ready to sign up. Supposedly last year there was a line on the magic day in September and several people were turned away.

There are three problems with this scenario for us:

1. If we don't get a spot then we have no other place to park our RV
2. The house sale doesn't close until November 15th, and we don't really want to pay two months of RV rent for nothing
3. We don't have an RV yet, and would need to find one and find the money to buy it in 14 days.

Speaking of RV rent though, it is CHEAP. It would only be $630 a month including all of our utilities (i.e. unlimited heat, fresh water and sewage pumping). If our main goal for the next chapter is to save money so that we can get to cruising faster and do it longer, this would definitely help!

The alternative to RVing is for us to get an apartment. We went apartment hunting this weekend (last weekend was RV hunting) and we really like one in Louisville! It is clean, had great amenities, and is pretty reasonably priced (not by RV park standards though).

An apartment would definitely be an easier way to spend the winter, but we would have to sign a 6 month lease, so no picking up and leaving when the right boat found us.

We will keep you posted on what we decide!

RV shopping

apartment shopping

Weekly school retro and planning (9/2/2013)

What went well last week:

• We started lots of subjects at once (math, science, reading, history, grammar, composition, spelling) and it all went well without feeling like we were overwhelmed.  Best of all, Audrey didn't seem overwhelmed, and actually seemed to really enjoy it. 
• Kept Lorelei engaged while working on school.

Areas for improvement:

• Did not get a poem memorized.
• Got frustrated with Lorelei several times.
• Audrey is not doing as much reading aloud as we would like.

Next week (9/2/2013-9/8/2013):

• todo:
• Grammar: lesson 5, 6, 7
• Composition: Week 2 lessons 1-4
• Handwriting: 2 pages m, H 
• Math: Unit 13 - number bonds (text 7 lessons and 1 review, activity 5)
• Spelling: finish lesson 22, lesson 23 and 24
• write back to Grampsy
• History: finish family tree exercise, read chapter 1 (pages 7-13), review questions on section 1 from activity book with a narration about Nomads, review questions on section 2 from activity book with a narration, coloring page on shaduf, map work student page 4. 
• Science: read books on shrimp/crustaceans, coloring page on crustaceans, continue studying our sea monkeys 
• Reading: continue myths, find lots of time to read to her and her to read to us

• daily plan:
• Monday:
• 8a  Math (finish unit 12)
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

• Tuesday:
• 6:15-7a 
• Math (13.1 and 13.2), 
• spelling (finish 22)
• 7:30a Aspen Grove for Lorelei
• 9a Parent Conference at Kinderheart
• Back to School shopping
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

• Wednesday:
• 6:45-7:30a 
• Math (13.3 and 13.4), 
• spelling (begin 23)
• 8-9a 
• Comp (lessons 1 and 2)
• Writing (ms)
• Grammar (lesson 5)
• 10a pear picking with Living Classroom
• 1p - 3p Nap (fun reading and notebook page)
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)
• 3:15p Audrey's Dance Class
• fit in science (read about shrimp)

• Thursday:
• 6:45-7:30a 
• Math (13.5 and 13.6), 
• spelling (finish 23)
• 8a-3:30p Aspen Grove
• 4:30p Lo's dance class
• 4:30p science (read about shrimp)
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

• Friday:
• 6:45-7:30a 
• Math (13.7 and review), 
• spelling (start 24)
• 8:30a-9:15a 
• Comp (lesson 3), 
• Writing (Hs), 
• Grammar (lesson 6)
• 9:30a - 10:30a History finish family tree exercise
• 11:30a Park Picnic? 
• 1:30 - 3:30p Nap (fun reading and notebook page)
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

• Saturday:
• 8a - 11a 
• Comp (lesson 4), 
• grammar (lesson 7), 
• history (chapter 1 with activities), 
• science (coloring pages, read), 
• Math (activity book)
• 1:30 - 3:30p Nap (fun reading and notebook page)
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

• Sunday:
• 1:30p Weekly planning and retro meeting
• 7p Structured reading (Greek myths)

Library List:

• history books
• books on big cats

8/31 schoolwork

Audrey

• Math: Singapore KB activity, pp. 23-24 (Unit 12, activities 3)
• Spelling: MCP A, pp. 91 (Lesson 22)
• Composition:   
• WWE: 1, Week 1 Day 4
• wrote a thank you note
• Grammar: FLL: 1, p. 5-6 (Lesson 4)
• Science/ History:  
• Read Archaeologists Dig for Clues

Lorelei

• Kumon coloring

both

• read books aloud at the library
• Science/History: field trip to the ruins at Caribou