This Page

I cannot believe my "baby" is 7 years old now! It just doesn't seem possible. You know, I have to stop myself from looking for clothes for her in the toddler's section, it just seems like that is where she belongs..viewed from my mom-colored glasses.

She received several gifts that vie for favorite gift designation..but I think her plastic bow and arrow set might be the top gift right now. I watch her stalking doves outside the window, it's just so stinking cute...(and the arrows are plastic with suction cups on the end..no hurt birds, I promise!)

Happy Birthday baby girl! It's so hard to believe that only 7 years ago I held all 10 lbs of you in my arms for the first time.

yes, you read that right...!!

Labels: family

We finished up our first week using Sonlight's Language Arts 2 material...and I was in love with it on the first day. I wanted to wait till I actually made it through the week before sharing my thoughts here on the blawg.

Language Arts has been very light, and not a regular thing, since my 3 youngest students were not quite reading. We are getting close to the end of Headsprout phonics, so I felt it was time to bring in some LA. I puzzled over which LA program, and then realized the answer was probably Sonlight. Kind of an out of the box thing, to order the LA portion when I am not using the rest of the program, but hey- I live life on the edge...


Soo, Sunday night I pulled out my binder and looked to see what we would be doing on Monday with our new LA and *readers... :) (It's sort of weird the way I love new books and new programs..but hey, it could be shoes or bags...)

It was just the right sort of work and lightness, we had a copywork passage (taken from the reader assignment, sigh-I love when things are inter-woven!) and then a note suggesting I write a few compound words on index cards, explain what a compound word is, and then have the student(s) put them together. They even gave me a list of words. So I did it, because it was the small kind of project I can handle....and then I tucked the cards away in my binder pocket.

The kids had a ball, and it even became a competition to see who could make the most words. Teddy was in the lead right till the end (which made me very happy because he is our struggling learner and I love moments when he can shine), and then Amie swept in and won by one word.

These are the kind of activities I love to do, it reminded me of a Montessori- education way of doing things- I love to do things like this, but I do them very sporadically because I am 1) either feeling behind in everything, 2) very busy and just forget, or 3) I don't plan ahead.
It was wonderful having it scheduled for me.


The next day we had a portion from the reader to unscramble- short and sweet! And then the next day we had a lesson on descriptive words and answered some questions about an animal they would like to write about; a pre-writing lesson. *here are Teddy and Amie hard at work on their adjectives...

Friday was the big writing assignment day, they took their list of adjectives and wrote about the animal they were describing. *Here is Demi-Sky's on the left, his student activity page for the week is on the right.

I really like that we do a little bit of work everyday, so they don't get burnt- out.
The Regular Readers-2 are just right for Amie, she reads them fluently but tires quickly with it. Demi is zooming through them and begs for more- which is perfect, because I anticipated this and ordered him the Intermediate Readers-2 schedule/study guide to add, in addition to the regular readers. Teddy is floundering a bit. He has an auditory processing disorder-and has come a long way since being pulled from public school last year, he has been doing great with phonics type readers...but the reading for this program is from The Beginners Bible, and is not limited to an easy phonics list..and he is not able to read as many pages as are scheduled.

I waited, watched and worked with him this week..and decided to go ahead and order him the Sonlight Reader's schedule for core 1. I am going to keep him with the
Language Arts 2 portion..and just hold his hand with it- because I think he needs the stretching it will give him with writing. But, I thought about it a lot, and decided that we want to foster a love of reading for him, not frustration or defeat- so the reader's for core 1 will be at a level he can triumph with. I love the fact that Sonlight has so many different reading and Language Arts levels within the different cores, it makes it easy to move the kids up and down if needed, but still keep them in the same history year...which we will be doing next year. It's decided, we are doing Sonlight complete cores next year with all the kids.

I will share more with you on planning, what the schedules are like and such, as I go along and figure it all out.

This week was a really fun week for me, Language Arts wise.

Labels: curriculum, homeschool planning, starting with Sonlight

Jane Austen meets Facebook

it's brilliant! So, what if Meryton had facebook?

click over, it's highly diverting...

Things are not dull for long around here! Well first, homeschool news-wise: I went ahead and ordered the Core 2 Language Arts from Sonlight. I also ordered the regular readers and intermediate readers guides with it.

I am really excited, aside from the fact that I love new books, new programs and packages in the mail (I am a curricula junkie, I admit it) , I am so excited about the point my youngest 3 students are in their learning to read journey. We are a little more than 20 lessons away from completing the headsprout phonics program, which is supposed to land them at a second grade reading level. They are just getting to the point of being able to enjoy what they are reading. The Sonlight program has a whole bunch of readers that look like so much fun.

Will the Bridgett Jones- homeschool mom be able to actually stick with a program? Well, my track record this year has improved tremendously, so I think I have a chance this time around.
You can all watch my progress, trials and triumphs here on the little ole blog...maybe,
unless it gets real ugly, then all bets are off and I will happily announce my new find next year...

With Meg starting high school next year, I really feel the need to have some continuity in our homeschool journey. That, and I am working my way so slowly through the program I have, which has been a great program, but I think I need more direction and a tightly scheduled day to keep me moving.



Other news, we have the kids of dear friends staying with us this week...there are 3 of them. So, this means that during the week I have 8 kids.

Here is the gang at McDonalds. We have been skateboarding and to Disneyland this week...I think a cheap movie theater is next. The really, really great part?... I got to drop off the 5 oldest kids at D-land and leave!!
It's the small things in life, really.

Labels: curriculum, homeschool, homeschool planning

Labels: hens, Wordless Wednesday

Way back during Christmas week, we had a house-full of guests for a Bible conference...after they left, I was doing laundry, putting the house back in order...and I found a few items of clothes in Demi-Sky's closet, which was where we housed several college-aged guys. I also found a large winter coat. By it's largeness, we decided it must belong to our friend J...who could be on the brute squad, and the clothes must belong to E, also on the brute squad and fortunately, close regionally to J. We decided to mail the clothes.

It took many weeks for me to box them up, get an address, and to finally get down to the post office. Mission accomplished, finally...

We received this email in reply:

Hi [Sky],



It was fun to see your names on the package of clothes - especially your

family address sticker with all the gang.


Hmmm.  Now the mystery is ... I called E and he says that he

isn't missing any clothes.


My Investigation

----------------


The black n blue ski jacket has a Mt. Spokane lift ticket attached and E
says he's never been there.


Well, this AM Shelley and I dug in the box and ... inside the jacket we

found:

1) Alaska Air bag claims for: [Sky, Meg, and Josie]


2) a Dublin bus ticket receipt for 1.35 Euros dated Aug.  28, 2006


3) a card from the Pullman Police for [Sky]'s lost cell phone .. hey this

brings back memories!


4) ticket stubs for Feb 12 2008 for the Pacific Science Center


5) a pair of black gloves


Hey, I should join the FBI .. this is fun!


Conclusions

-----------


Conclusion 1:  Isn't this [Sky]'s jacket?


Conclusion 2: It must not get cold enough in sunny So. Cal. for you folks to

break out clothing like this.


Now what?


Love to you all,


Jamie






okay then

I did have one bright cerebral moment today...gotta claim what I can...

I had Meg and Josie cut apart all the magnetic tiles I had for All about Spelling. I had 3 sets to make, plus 3 sets of flashcards...in a brilliant moment I drafted the girls to finish this chore for me. And they were so good at it, too.

Finally, we can start our spelling program! -it's been sitting around for many weeks.

Labels: Jen's world

I have a confession, my darling husband does not believe in Valentine's day.

And somehow, that is okay with me. [gasp]

He used to go through the motions with his back up about the whole thing...he hates being told by card companies-to spend money on his true love-on a day picked by them. He feels held hostage. He resents it.

So, I let it go. Maybe we are getting practical in our old age...or lazy..I don't know. But, you know, if I want something, he will go get it for me, if possible. He takes me out at least once a week for a nice dinner and some adult, date-time.

I'm good. We actually went to P.F. Chang's on Friday night. It was great, no crowds. Then we got some cheesecake to go. I heart cheesecake...then we watched some Monk with the kids.

It's good to be me. -not a bad gig, really.


Last weekend Meg had a violin recital. No photos, because we aren't supposed to use a flash while they are performing, and hence my photos came out fuzzy. My new camera has a great slow shutter...but I think I need a tripod.

I got to the recital and looked at Amie and saw this... But, she had clean nails!





Here are Teddy (our bonus student) and Demi at the skate-board park. We go on a weekday, mid-morning...and there is hardly anyone there!

They have a ball.

It's p.e. for us, I love that.






Princess Amie doing her skateboard thing.


So...things are busy here, we have more guests in and out.

I need to do my homeschool planning for the week..

I am about to order Sonlight Language arts 2 for the 3 littles, I think it will be a good fit for where they are right now. I'll post more about our grammar needs later. But, the searching has me thinking about using Sonlight next year for American History.

someone stop me. I need an intervention.

How's your week?

Labels: homeschool

Picture books about hens catch my eye, I have a soft-spot for that particular genre. This particular book, I took home with me. Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken is by Kate DiCamillo- the author of The tale of Despereux. It's a keeper, you have to take it home. To sum it up, Louise is a hen who longs for adventures and she has several in this book.
Chapter 1-Louise at sea...it says it all, really.

Here is an excerpt from the inside flap...

"She longed for adventure. So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world. The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful:...Yet in the face of such daunting danger, our heroine...She was brave. She was fearless. She was feathered. She was a chicken. A not-so-chicken chicken. Her name? Louise."

Illustrations by Harry Bliss are a combination of comic and scenic..-wonderful.

Here are some of the quotable parts that just tickle me, and I quoth these often..as often as I can work them in...

"Louise stood alone on the deck of the ship and let the wind ruffle her feathers..."

and

"Her heart beat fast within her feathered breast." -that is my favorite quote, and it is repeated throughout the story, much to my delight...

..."And inside the henhouse, safe and warm, all the chickens slept the deep and dreamless and peaceful sleep of true adventurers."

sigh. Love it.

Labels: book review, hens, reading basket

We are seriously thinking/talking about getting a dog. The kids are, of course, ecstatic. They have been begging for one for some time. We are in the research/try to take educated steps-phase, and so we are looking into lots of dog books. Growing up, I had several dogs in and out of our family life...so, I thought I knew a little something about dogs. Turns out, not! Here is something that I honestly did not know; many dogs need a basic level of exercise and for certain breeds-something that seems like 'work' to them. Having a good sized backyard does not satisfy the need for exercise/play (I thought it did...) Looking up information on each breed will offer you an idea of a minimum walking time-and if the dog gets less than this, they will act out their boredom by tearing apart your yard, barking, and doing other undesirable stuff. I really did not know that. I guess it is a good thing we are doing all this reading! Sky wants to take his time with this decision and be ready for the dog, if we do get one.

Great homeschooling opportunities here- Meg and Josie are spending a considerable amount of time researching breeds...topic report, anyone? A pro/con report? Or how about a persuasive essay? (Mom is just getting started...)

Unfortunately, the girls' passion for research is turning up lists of obscure/exotic breeds. Ones I have never heard of, infact. I had to break it to them that we need to look for more common breeds we could actually find in our area, and that wouldn't be really expensive because they are not common, and one we wouldn't have to pay airfare to ship...

On our list to go meet so far,:

Beagle
greyhound rescue
whippet
labradoodle
soft coated wheaten terrier

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

Hang in there, Jack.com - go on over for latest news on Jack's condition. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see what happened. You can follow it on twitter and facebook it seems.

They are asking that in lieu of flowers, you just visit a Jack in the box and order something...

some of us seem to have too much time on our hands, lol.

I have to tell you all about Mary Jane's Farm magazine, if you haven't seen it- go find one, you are in for a treat. The latest edition, the "Simply Bee" issue has a great article on making no-knead bread the Mary Jane way (page 66 of the Simply Bee issue), and my oh my, she does make it look easy-peasy. I'm seriously thinking of giving it a try. I ruin bread machine bread, 'nough said..
***************
I am having coat-lust over at the Boden catalog. I must have this* Chic Coat, and I must have it in chartreuse..even tho I don't usually go for green..it is just perfect.

That coat was sassy, but *this Jacket would be perfect for a date night, the one evening in the week I might dress up a little...more useful and would go with more. But I want the green one, too.
What is a girl to do? I could save up and splurge on one coat to last me for years...but never two.

Or 3? Because I am always cold, even in the house, this cardigan would get more use...

I want them ALL! I will probably do what I always do, continue to lust after them each month when the catalog arrives, but order none.

I have to say I love the Boden catalog, maybe one of these days I will actually order something.
And it will be an epoch I tell you, an epoch...

*********************

Family Fun magazine, Feb. 2009 edition as an easy birdseed biscuit recipe on page 24, and some cute Valentine crafts/cards.

*********************

and finally, I have really been enjoying Better Homes and Gardens magazine lately. I've noticed more articles with room update/remodels...for the rest of us. The rest of us that think of a big makeover as spending $100-$200 at the most on a room... And, they are including paint chip names too, a big help when you like the photo and want to emulate the color scheme. It's always been a favorite magazine of mine, but I am finding it much more practical these days.