Enquiring Minds want to know....

I don’t know about you, but we are winding up our school year! We have about 6+ weeks left! Part of me is doing the happy dance and the other part is sad because that means my boys will be finishing 7th and 8th grade....*sniffle which means they are growing up. Totally off the subject but... Did anyone read Sunday, 4/24 Zits cartoon.... it showed them tucking him in as a little boys, then tons of calendar pages flying around.... they as they were looking at him as a teenager....and it said the days are long but the years are short. Man, as a Mom... I totally agree with that statement. It just seems like I was walking them into Kindergarten.... But enough sniveling!LOL
Since it is that time of year, we are finishing our main curriculum as well as our homeschool writing curriculum and our Geography which includes U.S. State Games. Luckily we finished spelling last week, so that means all our time is concentrated on our other stuff. The boys whine a lot but they are always excited to cross off a subject! That means closer to the end of the year, closer to Summer, etc.
So, how is your year winding up? Almost done, still lots left to go, done already? Enquiring minds want to know!LOL

Spelling sucess!

As the year is winding up for us, 8 weeks left I think.... I am trying to get them to finish some of their subjects. Spelling is our continual subject though because I want them to be the best spellers they can be and have a good vocabulary. In order to do that, we do vocabulary games weekly using both their spelling words and any games we can find online. The better to test them I feel by giving them games that are not words they are familiar with. We also work on their assigned spelling words using Spelling City but we also rely on spelling words and lists such as the Dolch Sight Word Lists that Spelling City provides which make it great! The boys love all the games because they think its more games than schooling and I love that they are learning while having fun. Next year I will have to expand either the vocab games and/or the spelling words because my boys have really become good spellers. I am proud of how far they have come in a few short years! At times I worry that our homeschool choice or our curriculum choice was wrong, as I know we all have those days but then my son who used to send emails that were SO badly spelled for simple words that we as his parents were embarrassed he had sent them unsupervised.... the last email he sent, I had to correct nothing! It was written and spelled perfectly! Homeschooling success!!!

Pack of Hungry Snails: Turnoff Week

Pack of Hungry Snails: Turnoff Week I work so much on the computer these days, that honestly, I never need anyone to tell me to put it away. Other than a few visits to FB and blogs during the day, I can't WAIT to get rid of the thing! I don't even watch that much on TV, BUT giving up my Netflix would be really hard. Thinking of you......

How do you homeschool.....

I get told by many people that they do not know how I homeschool. Not questioning my ability to homeschool, like I am to stupid to do it but my ability to spend all day with my kids and not go insane! This comment always floors me, because not only do I love my kids but spending time with them is important to me. One day soon, they will be grown and move on. IMHO, homeschooling is easier than sending my kids to public school. I no longer have to deal with fundraisers, crabby teachers, lunch money, hours of homework, tired kids and parent supervised field-trips for lots of unruly kids. My first advice to new homeschoolers is always are you or are you planning on being a religious homeschooler or secular homeschooler. We are secular but many people are religious and would prefer a more Christian approach to homeschooling. Either choice can limit what curriculum I recommend, lest someone get offended by content. Next is get organized, because it makes your job as the homeschooling parent a heck of a lot easier. Figure out where you will do the homeschooling, kitchen, dining room, living room, the whole house, etc. We do ours in the kitchen. We refigured the layout, we added shelving for the daycare toys AND homeschooling. We bought covered storage containers for all the supplies, books, curriculum, paper, pencils, etc. we might need. When we started, they had a few things in them. Now, they are packed and in need of a go-thru. Our first year, we did nothing but Time 4 Learning(our curriculum of choice) while our whole house got used to the idea. Lots of change to have both my boys home now, for them to be together 24/7, Mom to lose her quiet time, etc. Our 2nd and 3rd(current) year we have added lots of other stuff to our daily regimen but I tell others that how they organize their day is totally up to them, homeschooling is a choice not a sentence! To me the biggest joy of homeschooling is catering it for my family, doing what we want-when we want and the fact that I get to spend some wonderful years with my boys before they grow up and become men!!