The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 4 - 10

In My Life This Week

I played a lot of Yahtze with C. And Wii bowling. And although I'm struggling on the Master Player competition in boardgames, I'm the Wii Bowling Champion. LOL So far.

With S and A gone over the weekend, I had a Chore Challenge! After making an extensive chore list, the kids worked through the list, and whomever completed the most received $1.00. 28 chores were completed! C won the $1.00! But the best part was that NO ONE COMPLAINED!

I had a WHOLE afternoon off. By myself. What did I do? Well, I mowed the lawn, read Water the Elephants and took a short nap. LOL

And Cheeper the Chick got to go outside for the first time! Aren't chickens SUPPOSED to like grass, dirt and bugs?! LOL Once her feet hit the grass she would fly back onto the kids. 

In Our Homeschool This Week

J continued to work on improving his typing speed and accuracy. C reviewed her Spelling Rules and the More Words lists in All About Spelling through Step 18. I created an account at Spelling City, entered the More Word lists in groups of 25, and then C took tests and played games on words she missed as part of her review. And S finished up short U and started the final section on short E in Hooked on Phonics: Learn to Read Level 1. I'm excited to move onto Level 2 and simple blends! 

Our limestone rocks weren't limestone. After 1 1/2 weeks of watching bubbles dissipate from the rocks in white vinegar with no stalagmites, we took the rocks out. Turns out we made "rock chalk"! 

We also dropped an egg into vinegar (acid) to see what would happen. This experiment worked better! The vinegar dissolved the shell (calcium) and left the inner membrane intact. The egg was "rubbery" looking and we could squeeze it just a little bit.

Vinegar Bubbles on the Side of the Egg

White Foam on Top

2 Days Later Shell-Free

"Rubber" Egg Does NOT Bounce...Ask S! LOL

Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

S and A went to Acadia National Park this weekend, camping with the Cub Scouts. S was SUPER excited and had a blast! And on the way back they stopped for Chinese with my family.

C crossed over to Junior Girl Scouts on Monday! We're SO fortunate to have incredibly motivated, organized and active leaders! C can't wait to see what activities they'll do next year! And she had softball practice on Monday and games on Tuesday and Thursday. Play-offs are next week!

 J had a Boy Scout meeting on Tuesday and is off on another camping adventure this weekend. He and his friend T went on a LONG walk to play baseball and then T stayed overnight.

C and J played with friends Sunday afternoon, playing video games and swimming in the lake.

We met up with our 4H group at the lake for swimming. The kids will be working on a poster for this year's theme, Outdoor Recreation and Education, over the summer months.

We joined up with about 175 other homeschoolers on the Songo River Queen II for a 2 1/2 hour boat ride. Check out my post about this field trip here!

Waiting to Board

The Gang

My Favorite Thing This Week 

Our leach field is working again! For those of you who have a leach field, you know it's a REALLY good idea to have a working one! The septic guys came out and did an aeration and we're up and draining well again! Phew! (And yes, it's a strange "favorite thing", but a HUGE worry gone for me.)

What's Working/Not Working For Us

Finding those "lazy days of summer". It seems that we're ALWAYS on the go! It's something I need to work on as I over-schedule us some most of the time. We NEED some unscheduled days of relaxation!

Questions/Thoughts I have

Kindle? Nook Color? What's easier to use? Which has more free books? What do you think?

A Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share 

A Reminder of a few Months Ago!

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