I love the days of summer... The days of hanging at the pool, balanced with fun activities and food prep.
Don't laugh. That is the picture of my summer. ;)

We had no appointments last week and none this week, so we tried to plan a visit with my family who lives 6 hrs away, but due to circumstances out of my control, we could not go. So around noon, we made plan b.

Lee was working with his mentor for the day. The other kids were hanging out with me, listening to messages online and relaxing on the hammock. A friend called and asked if I could pick up a case a cherries for her...
So we decided to hit the road. I love shopping local.

We first stopped at the little local hardware store, run by a plain older man who always has interesting conversations going with other old men who hang out there and tell weird old stories. (funny thing is, they do not know I speak their language)   I love this place, its messy and nothing is ever where it's supposed to be, but everything is dirt cheap.

Second stop, the little locally run grocery store for 40 lbs of cherries and 20 lbs of blueberries. My goal is to freeze and can as many fruits and vegetables as possible this year.

The kids had a dinner of apples, pickles (from our garden), and cherries in the car.

Third stop, the local farm that has THE BEST ice cream and milk. The kids got ice cream for dessert..

Then on to another little amish store, because I forgot to get freezer boxes at the first store. I picked up eggs, and tons of very reasonably priced freezer containers!

Finally we were done!!! The kids had been riding along patiently, without complaint. So since we were at the other end of the county we stopped to see our old neighbors. The kid absolutely love their farm. It's huge and a kids paradise. (parent's safety nightmare!) This friend has 8 kids with the oldest only 10 yrs old!!! They have massive old tobacco barns and the kids love to run and play in them, along with the big old hay barns. They got good and dirty in the 45 minutes us momma's were visiting.

We headed over to pick up Lee, at his mentor's house. They had a fun, but hard working day of cutting up and old tree. I am so thankful for these opportunities for my kids!

After loading up my dirty sweaty boy we headed home... But the kids were begging to see Grandma E. So we turned around and made a stop at her house! Grandma has red berries growing along her driveway. The kids were in heaven, stuffing their faces with berries!!

We finally arrived home at 8:30 pm. Tired, dirty sweaty kids and lots of fruit needing attention.

I love that my kids know how to enjoy hard work. I had 2 get in the shower while the other 2 worked on the cherries and I worked on the blueberries. Elizabeth and David had a competition going, to see who could fill containers faster.   It took us 30 minutes to clean and freezer package all our berries and cherries!!

Friday Encouragement

Sometimes you face the big battles in life head on, you conquer, you fight, you persevere.  Then you have those moments when it's the little things that put you over the edge...

Homeschool 2014

So it's time to organize school. I am switching things up this year, trying something new. What we had last year worked, but it wasn't great. I didn't feel like the kids retained as much as they should have and a lot was just boring, rote type learning.

I have 2 that are naturally hungry for knowledge, devouring books, flying through school work, everything comes naturally. Then I have the other 2. I think, maybe, cross my fingers, they have attained a love for learning.

David was given a break from school work 2 years ago. I provided books and learning opportunities, but only as he wanted. They were there for him, but he was not on any schedule. I had fought many losing battles and decided that until he liked learning we were not getting anywhere.... Once the pressure was removed and he was able to work at his own pace, things turned around. He has adhd and some delays, he would much rather run and play then do schoolwork, but now he truly enjoys learning, most of the time.

Faythe... her education is an ongoing challenge. She is finally now after 3 years of school, (no preschool) almost halfway through second grade and will hopefully in this 4th year, finish second grade. I have tried everything for her. Nothing worked. She was happy to go through live without learning a thing. This summer, I decided to try Christian Light Education... for the first time ever, this child is making steady progress and SHE LIKES HER WORKBOOKS!! She remembers things she learned and gets excited about it! She is reading chapter books!!

Everyone has a box which they decorate for their school books. The box is stored either in the basement or their bedrooms. This allows us to do school, upstairs, downstairs or on the go without much hassle. We have a box of teacher books and a bag with school supplies, that just float around. Our art  and craft supplies and toys are all in the basement. But mostly the kids prefer to sit around the table or in the living room to do school. The basement is more of a play area and creativity center.

We are also trying co op this year. I am a little nervous about the time commitment, especially since we will be babysitting again and have some other unexpected weekly commitments.

These are the classes the kids are taking for the fall co op:

Lee: science  and  research paper

David: build it, history and research paper

Elizabeth:Sewing and art

Faythe: history and social studies.

This is my curriculum for the year. (all is subject to change!)

Math: Teaching Textbooks for everyone except Fayth who is doing CLE

Science: Lee CO OP, the other 3 CLE

History: David and Fayth CO OP, Lee and Elizabeth, Abeka

Grammar: CLE for everyone

Spelling: A reason for spelling for everyone

Bible: CLE for everyone

HAndwriting: a reason for writing for Fayth

Social Studies: Co op Fayth, CLE for everyone else.

Music:  easypeasyonline early american

Health:

P.E.  running club, ymca?!?

Art: Tia CO OP, everyone else  easy peasyonline

*Christian Light Education (very conservative but the kids find it interesting)

Monday:

full schedule

Tuesday:

Math, grammar, history, spelling, bible

Wednesday: visit day/library 

Math, grammar, social studies, bible

Thursday:

Full schedule

Friday: co op

goal/rewards: accomplish all goals for the week for a special Friday dinner.

Over all goal:

Fayth be done with grade 2 by Christmas

sign up for spring co op

have all kids through xtra math by the end of the year

My kids do Xtramath in exchange for free computer time. It has really strengthened their math skills.