Weekly Wrap-up: Week 5 - The One that Begun Summer Studies

Our Summer Studies began this week. After 4 weeks off, it's time to do a little focused learning. I wouldn't call us "year round" homeschoolers, but some extra work on areas of struggle, a little math review and lots of reading give us a jump start for the fall. And why not EARN those ice cream cones (that I'd get them anyway but don't tell)?

I found this printable years ago, using it on and off as a summer studies incentive chart. When the kids complete 12 lessons of Math and 12 days of Reading and/or other Language Arts, it's ice cream time! (As the teacher, I get an ice cream cone too! It's only fair, right?) If you can find ice cream STICKERS for the squares (unlike me) it definitely adds to the chart.

Incentive Chart Source

Both kids will be participating in the Every Hero Has a Story summer reading program at the library and doing Khan Academy math, but Cati will review sentence diagramming with Grammar Revolution here, a struggle from last year, and Sam will learn cursive using Handwriting without Tears. Just for fun, Jake, my oldest who attends a STEM high school, plans to study Finance on Khan Academy. (Yeah, for fun.) He wants to get a jump start on his year-long project that includes designing, building, marketing, and selling a product.

Now, don't feel too badly for them. We're only spending 2-3 days a week on our summer studies (unless the kids decide they want ice cream sooner or more often), and only when we're not at the lake swimming or fishing, off to camps or enjoying time as a family. Summer studies are just a little something to keep us thinking through vacation.

In the meantime, Tom and I are enjoying fishing together, sometimes with family and the kids. We went to my sister's favorite fishing spot this past weekend. Chris, her friend, caught a sunfish and a perch, and my husband caught his first fish, a large mouth bass.

But anyone can catch a fish with a fishing pole with enough patience. It takes REAL fishing talent to catch what I did...

I snagged a FRESH WATER CLAM, folks! Who catches a CLAM with a HOOK? I have yet to actually catch a FISH...

Sam decided to join us one evening. It was his first time fishing! I taught him to cast, avoiding trees and lily pads, mostly. We saw fish chasing our lures, but no strikes.

Another sister got married this past weekend. I was the official photographer, taking about 2000 snaps. I left the SD card with her though, to go through the photos. I did get a few of the wedding location on my cell phone. What a backdrop, huh?

The sun hasn't been out much this week, but we did enjoy an hour near the lake between raindrops, reading, watching the boaters and paddle-boarders go by.

Happy Independence Day! 

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 4 - The One with Seeds, Sunsets and Strawberries

Another week with the kids visiting Nannie and Grandpa Lobster. Another week of quiet downtime, coming and going with few obligations. Another week of puttering around the yard, planning school, fishing, reading, and crocheting. It's a hard life, but someone has to do it!

I replanted the garden. I sowed more pie pumpkins, weird yellow-skinned cucumbers, wax beans, and Snow peas. With the help of Jake, we covered the garden over with wire to keep out snacking chickens and wild birds. (Those yellow-and-black Goldfinches are pretty though...) And I fertilized with an organic mixture from the hardware store. I have to say: That stuffed SMELLED something awful! Does that mean it'll work well?



I had to be creative with watering the garden though. Who wants to stand there for-ever? I have crocheting to do and books to read and sweet tea to sip.

We fished when we could. Unfortunately the trolling motor we bought used has some, um, issues, and with time constraints we just headed out to fish from shore. We've yet to actually catch a fish, but the serene late afternoons are so worth the effort. Just look at these photos! NO editing whatsoever. (Only my name added.)

As soon as the farm opened up for strawberry picking, my step-kids and I were there. I don't think many people knew they opened U Pick early because we had the field to ourselves. We ended up getting about 9 pounds or so of juicy, fragrant strawberries. I've been making meals of strawberries and cream. Nothing better than farm fresh, just picked berries!

I helped a stunned Hermit Thrush. I'm assuming it flew into one of our windows as I found it breathing, but feet up in front of our door. When it didn't move after 10 minutes, I picked it up with an old towel placing in on my outdoor table under the trees. Thrush like to hang out in the "understory" of forests. It was another 20 minutes before it was able to fly away.

Next week? We're heading down to pick up the kids. We've missed them. The house will again be noisy and there will be never-ending dirty dishes in the sink. We'll be signing up for the summer reading program at the library, having lunch at the Rec Center, swimming at the lake, and starting summer studies.

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Weekly Wrap-up: Summer Week 1 - The One With Rain

Sometimes I have a sense of relief when we have cool, rainy days. They are perfect days for spending time at home, reading, crocheting, catching up on household responsibilities, and baking. There's less filling days with outside activities, less driving here-and-there, and less feeling rushed. Rain not only refreshes the environment, but my spirit! We had some drenching days this week for which I'm thankful.

Sam rediscovered Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He started reading the books again, but it's inspired him to keep a journal and also do some drawing. All these things are super exciting! Being a kid with SPD who has delayed fine motor skills and visual tracking difficulties, reading and writing are just plain ol' hard work. I'm glad that he's found an enjoyable way to practice these skills!

He wasn't the only one writing! Cati is continuing to work on her short stories in her journal. She's focusing on creating catchy 2-3 page stories with improved grammar and spelling. Again, her choice of entertainment, but I'm super happy that she's working towards improving her written English.

Now, we will be doing Summer Studies during our 3 month vacation. (You can see those plans here.) I just don't want to start them now. It's a good thing to take a school break for a few weeks, but I'm certainly going to encourage child-led learning when I can.  In the meantime, we're enjoying some unscheduled, unstructured time to follow our own interests.

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 33 - The Final Week

And it's a wrap! 

Our 11th year of homeschooling is finished! Portfolio reviews are scheduled for tomorrow morning. It was a year ups-and-downs, but ALWAYS a learning experience. Now, onto planning and preparing for next year...and enjoying summer!

Not all my goals were accomplished this year, but I always am quite ambitious with them. Better to have challenging goals than ones easily attained, right? 

In the meantime, we're making memories! 

Sam decided to rig up the hose (using the mower) and cool off one afternoon. He's a "ham"!

We loaded up the kids and picnic food, and headed to a friend's house to camp in her AWESOME travel trailer. The kids kayaked and caught frogs. There were yummy S'mores, cooked over a fire near the pond. And 4 tired kids (and parents) at the end of the day.

We drove into the city and attended a AA baseball game. Our Portland Seadogs lost 2-3, but we had a great time, going home with 2 game balls (that players threw up to the kids).

We weeded and watched the garden grow.

And enjoyed seeing a few flowers bloom.

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Did you miss these blog posts?

Six Word Saturday: Summing up Life in 6 6-word Sentences

Creative Crochet: Rugged Ripples Blanket

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Summer Singing

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Volume 222 - Something to Remember

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Six Word Saturday: Spring Ahead

Bright Sun, Blue Skies, More Snow.

A chat with plow-guy in PJs.

School Vacation Week and Interest-led Learning.

Late Nights, Later Mornings, Lazy Days.

What? Really? No Crochet Projects Started!

Quick Meals, Yummy Treats, Dirty Dishes.

Dreams and Plans of Months Ahead.

Join Cate at Show My Face for Six Word Saturday.

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 18 - As Winter Snows On

It's time to catch you all up! Wouldn't you know it? In mid-January the hard drive in my 9-month-old laptop went completely kaput. Jake assures me it wasn't delayed damage from the night Sam's water got spilled onto the keyboard, but something magnetized...or a drop. Either way, I arrived home to find a pile of dirty dishes across the counter-tops, and a laptop with a warning! warning! warning! message on a black screen. My Computer Guy Eric couldn't even get my photos off the hard drive. :sigh: So, I am without computer, borrowing from my kids when available. Between my laptop meltdown, a broken wire in my DSLR camera's card reader, and my annoying issues with my cell phone, I think I'll put off getting anything electronic for a while.

But, on the other hand, all these VERY snowy, frigid days have been perfect for crocheting and reading  in cozy PJs, and getting homeschooling done. Even Cati and Sam have been interested in learning to crochet. What a challenge to teach them though! Being left-handed, my crocheting is a bit, um, backwards for my right-handers. Jake has had 4 snow days in the last 2 weeks, but my homeschoolers settled down to both structured and unstructured learning. I much prefer schooling NOW and take off warm, sunny days instead! How about you?

It also seemed like a great time to pull out one of the turkeys I froze around Thanksgiving - super sale savings! - and roast it up for some warm comfort food and leftovers. (I over-roasted it, but the gravy covered up the dryness...) I do believe Thanksgiving Dinner in the middle of the winter hits the spot!

THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN

Cati and I made a new friend recently. On the way back from grocery shopping, we happened upon a horse strolling down the side of the road about 2 miles from our home. He was without a human companion. I followed him with my van, flashers on, praying that he would stay on the shoulder as vehicles flying by on the other side of the road wouldn't have time to stop for him. He eventually bolted up a driveway to a house with a barn. No one was home. Seeing his fence down and not wanting him to end up on the road again, I called 911 who in turn got in touch with Animal Control (who happened to live just a 1/3 mile away and knew the horse's owner). Howie, super sweet and friendly, is now safe-and-sound behind a repaired fence with his Shetland Pony companion.

A SNAIL'S PACE

Over my 11 years homeschooling, I've relaxed. A lot. I started off with every day scheduled down to the minute, covering as many as 12 different subjects in a day. (So sorry, Jake! But you certainly handled it!) These days? Our days flow in a more natural, child-led rhythm. Not to say there isn't structure, but gone are the days of a strictly adhered to schedule. Homeschool wraps around and into DAILY LIFE rather than the other way around. But that also means that some days are for taking apart rockets, baking cinnamon rolls from scratch, games, both board and video, pleasure reading, Wattpad creative writing and keeping a Diary of a Wimpy Kid journal, and building snow forts. Our core learning is moving a long at a steady snail's pace, but it's moving!

LOVIN' LEARNING

Sam has been delving into World of Science (My Father's World) for a couple of weeks now. I can't tell you how exciting it is to see him reading for pleasure AND information! (I don't even mind that we haven't gotten to our Earth Science ONCE in the last 2 weeks!) We both now know how a fridge works. Perhaps if it goes on the fritz he'll be able to repair it...He's also read about atoms and molecules, states of matter, kinetic energy and simple machines, and magnetism, (Oh. I hope he didn't test out magnetism on my laptop...)

Cati decided to read 100 books in 2015, and she's already well on her way. (I'd join her in a friendly literature competition, but I'm aiming more for 100 CROCHET projects on 2015.) And this girl with her newly found love of creative and informational writing! Last year I don't think I could have PAID her to write a story without grumbles, but this year she's off and typing!

PLANNING FOR SPRING

Unfortunately my kiddos aren't as enthusiastic as I am about planning our garden for this season. (Fortunately, my fiance, who grew up on a dairy and vegetable farm, is.) Yes, I know, the snow is piled high, but looking forward to spring sure beats "cabin fever". This season we're going simple: Sugar Pie Pumpkins, French Beans, Tom Thumb Peas, French Carrots, and Boston Pickling Cucumbers. All non-GMO, all heirloom. Now, to wait until the 4' of snow melts off the raised beds...

As always, special thanks to these weekly link-ups:

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts this week!

Memory Monday: My School Years

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Don't Let it Snow
Wednesday Hodgepodge: Tickled Pink and Tucked in Tight
Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun

Happy Homeschooling!