The second week of school was much better than the first! Can’t you tell by this picture?

Actually, he was working very well on his math at this little desk in the schoolroom. He just didn’t want his picture taken. lol

Abby decided to curl up on the couch while studying her Bible Drill.

Our church hasn’t started Bible Drill back for the year. They don’t usually start until sometime in October. It’s just easier for us to start studying again when we go back to school.

The second week of piano lessons were also better than last week.  One good thing about piano lessons at home is that the teacher can have a snack during lessons. lol

This was only Zach’s second lesson and he loves it. He’s been “playing” the piano since he was tall enough to reach the keys.  He really loves making up his own songs.

Even though they had a good week, they are still really happy for the weekend!

 

 

Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Homeschool Highlights

Well, we started school on Monday. I wish it was a more successful week, but it wasn’t.

That will be the LAST time we take 6 weeks off in a row! Oh my! Most of them just didn’t want to work. sigh

So needless to say, some are now without computer, tv, and video game privileges.

I’m sure next week will be better. The first week after vacation can be hard. I’ve been through this numerous times before, and I know it gets better, so I’m not discouraged. If you have a hard first week back to school, don’t discouraged either. It will get better.  🙂

We started piano lessons again this week. Hannah 15, took lessons for several years and I now have her teaching her two younger siblings. Zachary 11, just started this week, and is loving it.  Abby 12, took lessons for a couple of years and is not all that happy to have her sister for a teacher. But she’ll adjust.

All of the kids have at least one subject or educational aid to do on the computer. So we need to come up with a better computer schedule than first come first served. lol We really need a school laptop.  Someday. lol

I took this picture of Hannah studying her Kentucky State History on the computer. While knitting. lol

 

The 2 highschoolers are using Switched on Schoolhouse for state history. My older 2 kids liked it and these two do also.

That’s the only picture I took this week. They kept me on my toes this week. lol Well, I did take another picture but it’s for an upcoming review for The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. You’ll just have to wait for that one.  🙂

 

 

 

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This past week was family reunion week for us. We had relatives from Florida, Ohio and Massachusetts. Lots of fun and lots and lots of work. They didn’t all stay here, most stayed next door at my in laws house, but I shared food prep with my mother in law. That was the work part. We had to cook for 18 – 22 people every day.

 

We start school tomorrow (Monday) and I’m glad to go back to school so I can sit down. lol

 

I have pictures of our schoolroom this week! I’ve had this plaque hanging up for many,many years. I read it most days to remind myself. Some days, I could use multiple readings! lol

 

This picture is looking into the schoolroom from the dining room. The living room opens off the dining room in the same manner. It’s all open, and we really like it. And yes, we have a lot of books.  🙂 We have one old school desk down in the left corner. The kids have more desks in their rooms but are the kind with separate chairs.

On the right side, we have the desktop computer where those doing computer schoolwork sit. Phone books, schoolbooks, telephone then our printer. After the printer is my sons work area. He works on computers and I find it quite challenging to keep up with him. His idea of picked up and organized doesn’t always agree with mine. Above, we have a shelf with cds, and computer books. The Bible maps and timeline are above the shelf. After the desk, you turn right into the hallway pictured below with bookshelf and bulletin board.

 

On the left side, we have the old library card catalog with supplies and such. The bins on top are where 3 of the kids keep their current schoolwork. They can just take the bin and work where they want, and it’s easy to put it all away. The fourth kid keeps his books on the small white shelf to the right. Next to that is our file cabinet. The bulletin board above has a few different items hanging up, including our prayer list.

The shelf above the window has trophies and a few collectibles on it. The maps are on a roller shade under the shelf, which is really a homemade cornice I had my husband build so I could hang the map shade under it. There is enough room under it to hang another roller shade if we decided to expand our maps. Then starts all the book shelves.

 

Here’s a close-up of the card catalog and the school bins.

This picture is actually when you get to the end of the school room to the bedrooms. The boys room is on the left, you can also see the bathroom door. The girls bedroom door is way over on the right out of the picture. This bookshelf holds the kids books, like Dr. Seuss and The Berenstain Bears. The bulletin board above is for the kids papers.  *Note – the doors are not dirty. lol The paint is wearing off the wood. We’ve lived here with 6 kids for 12 years. I guess it’s time to paint! lol I really want to paint the walls and doors down here with chalkboard paint in a tan color. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

This picture is straight ahead in the schoolroom. The brown cabinet has school supplies – paper, new notebooks and folders, science experiment stuff, a couple games and some of our outdoor stuff like our solar balloon. It has more games on top. It’s supposed to lock, but the lock broke years ago. The door is to our craft room, with black bookshelves on either side that hold lots of paperback books.

I hope you enjoyed a tour of our schoolroom. We have a LOT of books and stuff in there.  That room is what others would use as a family room. After we are through homeschooing, I think I’ll keep it as a library and just go sit in there and read. Maybe I’ll even build a window sit and sit there to read. )

 

Please visit:

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And to see more homeschool rooms, visit The Homeschool Post.

 

 

 

I love The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! It is the only homeschooling magazine that I have had a subscription to for years. I used to subscribe to several, but when The Old Schoolhouse Magazine came out, I loved it so much I didn’t renew the others.

 

Great support, ideas, tips, studies and more await you in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

 

Now, you can get a FREE The Old Schoolhouse Magazine digital summer edition.

 

If you’ve never seen a The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, now’s your chance to see how great it truly is!

My son does the sound at church, runs the microphones, etc. Here he is in front of the sound board last Friday night as they were getting ready for a tent revival behind the church. You can see the inside of the church in the back of the picture. Learning to run the sound board has been a great experience for him. He has been broadcasting the audio from our church services live over the internet for several months now. Last Sunday, he was even able to broadcast video live online for the first time.  He has pretty much taught himself how to do all that, as no one in our church knew how. He’s doing a great job!

 

I’ve been hard at work in the schoolroom again this week. It’s looking quite spiffy. I’m almost done, just a few odds and ends to finish up. A little more organizing of some of the bookshelves. They’re are done (even labeled!), except for two that have school books and papers that aren’t currently being used. Print outs and the like that we have either used in the past and will use again, or something planned for future use.

 

Yes you read that right, I labeled the book shelves. I will share that when I take after pics.  I still have a bin of books to sell/giveaway. I also haven’t gone through the papers and such from my older two. But it’s all corralled in a box for each. I’ll go through and pick out what I want to keep and make the rest available to them. Yep, I get to pick first. lol

We had a birthday yesterday, our youngest turned 11. He’s waiting for his party until the 2nd week of August when we have lots of family from out of state coming for a family reunion. I did give him a cupcake with a candle in it at 8:18 in the morning, his birth time. Then I gave him a present last night. A Cars2 giftpack that I won on a blog giveaway. It had a puzzle in it and he’s done it 5 times so far. Once last night, and 4 times today. I don’t think he’s done yet, as he loves it.

 

Hannah 15, has been at church camp all week. She’ll be home tonight. Full of stories of great times and lots of great pictures, I’m sure.

 

I answered a question on Facebook today asking for help with schooling a couple of kids at once and having younger kids, too. I thought I’d post my answer here, too

 

What I have tried in the past is give them a flag (they could make it) or some other small item for them to stand up on their desk/table when they need help. They’re not allowed to get up, yell for me, etc. They have to keep sitting and working as best they can, even going on to another subject if needed until I can get there to help them. If they are all at the table together, have numbered flags in the middle of the table and have them pick in order, first come, first served. It’s a great help to mom when you have lots of kids. I have 6. 🙂

 

Next week, school room pictures!

[Read more…]

I’m still working away in the schoolroom. I’m making great progress. The kids have even commented. I guess I really am making progress if the kids noticed. lol

 

Tonight, I’ve been sorting through a pile of fallen apart books. Seeing which ones can be glued or are too precious to part with and which ones can be thrown away. The Piggy in the Puddle (Reading Rainbow Books)
will be staying on the shelf coverless until I can replace it. What’s a book shelf without a little oofy poogy. 🙂

Abby asked to make hummingbird food the other day.  We haven’t made any yet this year.  So I told her how to make it, and she did it all by herself.

She used 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups of water. Boiled for 2 minutes, then cooled. Very easy, and much better for the pretty little hummingbirds than dye laced food. You can make this in any quantity, just use 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. You can also store it in the fridge for up to a week before filling the feeders.

She hung two feeders, one on the back porch and this one on the front porch.

Have you got your curriculum lined out for the new school year? Since I have all the books all the way through high school already, it’s just a matter of pulling books off the shelf and handing them out to the kids. The basics are the same for everyone, then they add in any electives that they want. It’s nice, after stressing about Jr. high and high school with the older two, to be able to just peacefully hand out books now.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t change curriculum if needed for individual students. That’s why I changed from Saxon Algebra to Teaching Texts Algebra. I like it better, and so do the 2 students in it now.

Since we school longer than the public school, we always have books carry over from “last year” to “this year”. But all four kids will be starting at least 2 new books when we go back to school. I will pull those off the regular shelf, and put them on each kids school shelf or in their school bin after I finish my thorough clean out of the school room.

 

Due to family visiting from out of state, we won’t be starting back to school the first week of August as planned. The family is coming the 2nd week. It really doesn’t make much sense to have school for one week, then take off a week. At least that’s what my kids keep telling me. lol Their right. I just haven’t told them that yet. lol

 

 

Here are a few links I found interesting and helpful:
Signing Savvy
How to Make a Butterfly Feeder

 

 

Please visit:
Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Wrapping Up The Week
Weekly Homeschool Highlights

One of the kids recently told me that they didn’t have to do run around outside for PE because they were on vacation. lol They have been so busy playing outside that I haven’t even had to enforce the one hour video game rule. Hide and go seek is a popular past time. Even all the teenagers play. They love it.

We got the new pool set up this week. So they are getting lots of exercise there, too.

Hannah made her own modest bathing suit this week. (all the info is at that link) She did a great job!

And I’m still working in the schoolroom. The bookshelves have all been sorted through and put in order. I even labeled all the shelves today. Now I’m wondering how long it will last once school starts again. lol I’m also making lots of progress on the paper mess. I think I’ve got all the papers shoved in all the corners out. Am I the only one whose kids love to crumble paper and shove it in any available space?

The kids haven’t gotten too much reading done for the summer reading program. Hopefully, next week, they’ll get some done.

They did make a video this week, though. They film what they call “The Geek Show”. They do different skits and songs. Just whatever they come up with. This one is sooooo funny! I was laughing so hard most of the time, I was afraid I was going to ruin their video. lol I’m not usre yet if they are going to post this one online or not. Since the cousins were in it, too, they have to get their parents permission before posting online. If they do, I’ll share the link.

 

Here are some links I found interesting and helpful this week.
The Notebooking Fairy
The Notebooking Fairy Notebook Ideas
Senior Year Homeschool and Way Behind
Planning Your Homeschool Year
Homeschool Record Keeping

 

 

 

Please visit:
Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Wrapping Up The Week
Weekly Homeschool Highlights