1/10/2014 Homeschool Journal

1/13 Schoolwork

Spelling: drill and lesson 17

Grammar: finished Lesson 61

History: started 15; review; narration

Math: number bonds for 6
Composition: week 14, day 4
Science: Our Body's Defense System
Swimming Lessons

Audrey's 1st experimentation with cursive

1/12/2014 Retro and Planning Meeting

What Went Well

• Math is going well. Audrey is starting to grasping number bonds
• Audrey is a great speller, and she is reading to us a lot and really doing great. According to the graded readers she is reading at a 3rd grade level. 
• We worked on memorizing a new poem this week and found a way to make it more fun!
• Both girls passed into a new level at swim class. Audrey swam the long direction of the pool for her test, and is now learning roll over breaths, and standing dives. Lorelei swam 7 feet alone using both arms and legs to pass her test, and is now learning windmill arms and stream lining. 

Areas for Improvement

• We would like to feel like the routine comes more naturally. 
• No more skipping planning meetings. 

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
• Find a new ancient times reading for our evening schedule (maybe china or norse myth) 

Schedule for the week

• Monday 
• early
• Math: number bonds through 10 - exercises with new animal manipulatives
• Grammar: Lesson 61
• Spelling flashcards
• History Chapter 15 - The Phoenicians - section one with review questions and narration.
• morning
• Spelling: lesson 17
• Swimming Lessons
• afternoon
• Science: Read First Body Encyclopedia about defense 
  
• Composition : Week 14, day 4
• 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 
• reading
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice to read to us

• Tues
• early
• Math: number bonds through 10
• Grammar: Lesson 64
• Spelling Flashcards
• Math Flashcards
• morning
• Kinderheart and Mt. View
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• reading
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice to read to us

• Wednesday
• early
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, finish grammar
• Math: number bonds through 10
• Grammar: Lesson 65
• History Chapter 15 - The Phoenicians - section two with review questions and narration, with map work and coloring page

• morning
• Living Classroom play-date
• Living Classroom play-date
• afternoon
• Spelling: Lesson 18
• Science: Our Body's Defense System
• History: Chapter 16 - The return of Assyria - section 1 with 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
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• 
  
• Reading
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice to read to us
• Thursday

• early
• Math: number bonds through 10
• Grammar: Lesson 66
• Morning
• Kinder heart, Mt. View
• Fabricate
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Reading
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice to read to us

• Friday 
• early
• Math: number bonds through 10
• Spanish: Unit 1, lesson 1, finish grammar
• Grammar: Lesson 67
• History: Chapter 16 - The return of Assyria - section 2 with review questions and narration with map work and coloring page
• morning
• Circus Skills
• afternoon 
• Play date with Judah
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Reading
• The Children's Illustrated Bible
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple

• Saturday 
• Ski Lessons at A-Basin

• Sunday 
• Weekly planning
• Pick a new poem
• afternoon
• dinner time
• Poem practice 
• Reading
• In the Land of the Big Red Apple
• Audrey's choice to read to us

Story time

Lorelei practicing stream-line position

Audrey doing backward stream-line

"What do you do if you fall off a boat?"…"Roll over and float!"

field trip with Living Classroom to The Denver Art Museum

1/8 progress reports

April put a dent in getting our physical photos set to digitize.  I worked on getting our baby furniture sold and shipping the day bed to Florida.

1/8 schoolwork

Math: number bond drill

Spelling: drill

History: read the first section of Chapter 14 in SotW V1, answered review questions, dictation and copywork

Science: Read and did dictation and copywork on nails, skin and hair

1/7 progress

We read from Essentials.

We've been doing some research on digitizing old printed photos.  We can do that for a couple hundred bucks for 1000 prints through ScanCafe.  That'll lighten the load.

I also researched shipping our dining room set to Len through uShip.  That'll be about $350.  I think we can do a similar thing with the day bed Dad made for around $100.

Over our anniversary trip this past weekend we put a lot of thought into how we will reduce and pack for this next move.  Hopefully we'll be able to get down to something reasonable for living aboard.  I'll fill in details on those plans soon.

1/6 schoolwork

Number bond drill

Science: Read about the lungs and did narration on

Read a chapter of On the Other Side of the Hill aloud to the girls

Audrey read aloud Ella Sarah Gets Dressed
PE: Swimming lessons for both girls.  Audrey graduated to level 3.

1/7 schoolwork

Spelling drill

Number bond drill

Pronouns

Read Frozen Golden Book to Lorelei

Audrey read aloud Room on the Broom

Read a chapter of On the Other Side of the Hill aloud to the girls

Worked on memorizing "Dancing" by Eleanor Farjeon

1/6 progress

We've been making progress in Sell Up and Sail and in The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat.  We've also done some good concrete planning on reducing and relocating.  The countdown is on for us in CO!

1/3 schoolwork

Finished unit 2 in math

Finished chapter 13 in history on the New Kingdom of Egypt

Did coloring page for chapter 14 in history on the Israelites exodus

Did a lesson in spelling

Finished the Magic School Bus about the senses

1/2 progress

I made a couple resolutions on the blog last year, and we've succeeded in a big one:  We are debt free.  That's an important step in our journey. 

I've been reading The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat, and April and I have been enjoying Sell Up and Sail.

I've gotten a couple bids for shipping some of our stuff out on uship.

1/2 schoolwork

Math:
- Worked in Unit 2 in Primary Mathematics Textbook 1A STD ED, Primary Mathematics Workbook 1A STD ED

Reading:
- Marley: Not a Peep! aloud byAudrey
- poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends aloud to and by Audrey
- On the Other Side of the Hill, "Sneeze on Monday" aloud to Audrey and Lorelei
- The Children's Illustrated Bible, "Jesus calls his Disciples," "The Wedding at Cana" aloud to Audrey and Lorelei

1/1/2014 schoolwork

History: Finished Chapter 13 on the New Kingdom of Egypt and did some related coloring coloring

Spelling: drill

Math: addition facts drill
Reading: Started On the Other Side of the Hill

12/31 schoolwork

Grammar: Lesson 60 on initials

History: began Chapter 13 on the New Kingdom of Egypt
Math: Finished Unit 1, started Unit 2

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