The Homeschool Mother’s Journal - 4

In my life this week...

I’ve been working like a busy little  beaver to get things finalized for the 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planners.  This year’s planners will be full of lots of new forms and must-know lists, as well as plenty of new articles to help and encourage homeschool moms.  I’ll be excited to announce when they are available for purchase!

The Homeschool Crew reviewed The Curiosity Files this week.  It’s been fun reading the reviews.  I’ve been working on this series for a few years now, and it’s exciting to see them being used by homeschool families.  The majority of the feedback has been very positive. :) 

In our homeschool this week...

We’re still learning about the 1920’s and finished up a biography on the Wright brothers this week.  We took a field trip to a local antique store, in search of toys from the 20’s, but really weren’t as successful as we had hoped.  We may attempt another antique store next week – not sure yet. 

We’ve got a few more books to read and things to do before we move onto the 30’s and 40’s, but I’ve got some fun ideas and resources up my sleeve for this timeframe – things I’m sure I’ll be sharing about in the Journal in weeks to come.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Yesterday we spent a few hours at our church, sorting books.  Our church building  project is almost complete, which means we’ll soon have an “official” library.  Ashley and I are doing a lot of the work to make that a reality.  If you happen to help with your church library and have ideas and/or suggestions, please comment or e-mail me. 

Ashley and I are both book lovers, so this job is right up our alley.  I just hope we can make the time to do it well and successfully. 

My favorite thing this week was...

Hearing the birds chirping outside my window – on three separate mornings – this past week.  It’s music to my hears.  I love that sound.  I don’t even care that it wakes me up!  It’s a reminder that spring is coming soon!

What's working/not working for us...

Something that has been working  very well for Gracie this year is Spelling City.  Some of the Crew members reviewed it earlier this year (you can read those reviews here).  It’s an online spelling program (vocabulary now too).  There are “generic” spelling lists on it, by grade level.  But, you can also input your own spelling lists.  We use Total Language Plus, so I just input the spelling lists from there.  Gracie is not my strong speller (which I attribute to the fact that she wanted to learn to read TODAY and would not use a phonics-based method).  Using Spelling City, I’ve seen great improvement in her spelling skills and test grades.  Spelling City uses a games-approach to learning to spell, and Gracie loves games! 

If you’ve got a struggling speller at your house, I’d highly recommend giving Spelling City a look. 

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

I’ve been thinking a lot about graduation next year.  I wasn’t sure what we would do.  I got the mailing from CHAP (our local/PA homeschool convention).  This year, they are having a graduation ceremony during the convention.  I want to be sure to check it out – as that may very well be an option we can use next year.

It’s hard to believe that I’ll have a senior next year!  Where has the time gone?!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Gracie’s competing in musical challenges at both piano and violin lessons right now.  She’s very competitive, so she loves this type of thing.  I thought it fitting to share some of the music she’s working on right now ---

(piano)

(violin)