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

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

    • 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
      • 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

      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
      • 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
      • 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
      • 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
      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:
      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