Thursday, May 9, 2013

A Peak at Our Week: :Sniffle: :Achoo: :Swat:

In My Life This Week
:achooo: :sniffle: The pollen is flying and that means seasonal allergies. :sigh: Although I can't complain too awfully much since the temperatures are warming up and the sun feels awesome...but that means itty bitty BLACK FLIES are everywhere again :sigh: I suppose I'm complaining a little bit.

On the Menu
★ Taco Nachos with Chunky Salsa and Pineapple Slices ★ BBQ Chicken with Pasta, Steamed Peas and Carrots and Applesauce ★ Lasagna with Homemade Garlic Bread and Steamed Beans ★ Pasta Salad with Ham and Cheese Chunks and Cubed Watermelon and Strawberries ★ Egg and ham Breakfast Sandwiches on Garlic Cheese Rolls and Watermelon and Strawberries 

Homeschool Happenings
Jake is SUPER into his Civil War battles paper. Isn't it amazing how focused and contented they are when they're studying something they simply can't get enough of? I've suggested ways for him to organize his information, but he has a different "attack plan". (Get it? Civil War BATTLES? ATTACK plan? :grin:) HE plans on reading each and every book and then write the paper. Notes? Nah! He did create a "spider web" graphic to organize the gist of his paper, but all those abbreviations are for HIM only. :wink: I'm stepping back and just letting him "run with it".

Cati finished up Saxon 65 with a final test grade of 95%! She's super excited to be done with Math for the year!  But ironically THE SAME DAY she asked to do coordinate math puzzle pictures. (You can find the FREE graphing worksheets here.) Who am I to stand in her way of doing math delight-directed learning, right? :wink:


Sam is trying to wheel-and-deal with me: he wants to earn money. My kids are expected to help out around the house WITHOUT financial gain so what to do? I'm tossing around the idea of giving him 1 cent per page read instead. Do you suppose he'll be more inclined to read? I'm concerned with his lack of reading improvement this year and extra practice might just get him moving along again.

And Sam asked for more challenging mazes from here so I printed up some intermediates! :wink:

Photo Credit

What We're Reading
The Single Parent Family: Living Happily in a Changing World (Kennedy and Spencer King) (J) ★ Pile of Civil War Books (Various) (J)  Julie (Craighead George) (C)  Young Cam Jansen and the Ice Skate Mystery (Adler) (S) ★ The Great Brain (Fitzgerald) (Read Aloud) 

Places We're Going, People We're Seeing
★ Hanging at the S_'s ★ Scouts (J/C) ★ Portland Seadogs (J/C) ★ Softball (C) ★ Library 

Our Favorite Thing
We spent a perfect spring afternoon with our friends, the S__'s, on Saturday. While 9 kids kayaked on their 1 acre pond, caught frogs, ran through the woods, played with a tetherball and boomerang, us Moms sipped drinks from the shady porch and gabbed. For hours. Her husband BBQed up chicken and we had an early dinner and then played some Skip Bo. A wonderfully relaxing day!

Something to Share
When I saw this on Facebook last week, it got me to pondering. How about you?


Other Blog Happenings
Click on these links to read this week's posts!

Take a Hike: Holt Pond
Question-of-the-Week
Cluck and Quacks: Big Girls Meet Little Girls

As always, linking up to these AWESOME blog hops!

Homegrown LearnersThe Homeschool Villagehttp://hammocktracks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/savannahbutton2.png photo 79396fe0-1f8b-44f8-a90e-f8ca7bfa801e_zpsa74bcc3b.jpgHip Homeschool Hop Button

14 comments:

  1. Morning Jessy - not sure how I was not signed up to follow your blog - but am now! Love the menu you have listed! Enjoy your week and Happy Mother's Day!

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  2. Hi Jessy! Another great week at your place. Isn't it awesome when they become engrossed in something? I love it. I love those coordinates math puzzles. About to check out the site. I hope the sneezing and sniffling are better! Happy weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

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  3. Thanks for posting the link to the coordinate graphing sheets. I'm about to go print one out for my son. He's going to love graphing Mario :-)

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  4. Sounds like a great week (minus the sniffles and sneezes of course). We're a "graduated" homeschool family with kids already grown, so I appreciated the glimpse into your week. I miss homeschooling - at least the easy parts. ;-)

    I was also struck by that last photo and quote by Seth Godin. We read a great book this week while driving home from a conference. It was about a family of four who took four months to travel 10,000 miles. Put those two concepts together, and my desire to be on the road full time with a truck and trailer is becoming like a constant itch! (maybe soon...)

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  5. We are finishing Saxon 6/5, too! This was our first year with Saxon (coming from ABeka) and I love it. I was a bit standoffish due to the lack of "pizazz" but it ended up working for us. Who knew?! Have a Happy Mother's Day!

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  6. I love your quote. It looks like everyone is winding down for the year. We have allergies, too. And fruit flies instead of black flies. :)

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  7. I love the graphic, and it's so true.
    It always feels so good to finish up another year of math. Amber has 10 lessons left in Saxon 7/6, and then she is finished for the year. Yay!

    I hope everyone is feeling better and not sniffling too much.

    Happy Mother's Day!

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  8. Bless you! Hope the allergies pass soon. I know they're no fun. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  9. I am going to go get the Great Brain series for my kids. I loved them when I was a kid.

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  10. Sorry about the seasonal allergies! I have been sneezing a lot lately and think it might have something to do with all the pollen in the air. Good for my bees, but not so good for me haha.

    That last image does really give you something to think about.

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  11. Thanks for both of the links! I have some kiddos that will love them! :) I love the quote at the bottom...very true, but very difficult to achieve! Have a wonderful week!

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  12. I love this post! So happy, fun, and positive! Your kids are awesome learners! I think I might steal your idea of paying per page read! Jeremiah does not enjoy reading the way all the rest of us do and it bugs me! He might enjoy those graphing worksheets too! Thanks for the info and supporting Friendship Friday! Your friendship means a lot to me!

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  13. Hello, I just found you from the ihomeschool weekly wrap up. I think from what I read here that you are doing great in letting your little one explore the civil war in their own way. Any time a child is excited about learning and wants to explore, we often get in the way when we insist they do it our way. They will learn much more if we get out of their way and simply let them learn, perhaps occasionally give a little guidance if/when needed.
    :) Renee @ Great Peace Academy

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  14. Did you ever find any local honey? It sure had made the difference for our allergy issues, just by taking a spoonful every day! Wish I knew something to take care of the flies:/

    I love to see my girls get engrossed in a topic and run with it! My youngest has really gotten interested in the Civil War this year too. She earned a Civil War historian badge from the national park service...something for your son to check out maybe;)

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