What can I say?

I just keep forgetting to update here. I'll keep at it, but I really don't think I'm cut out to be a blogger. LOL

So what's been going on with us? April went by really freaking fast! We had a lot of colder, yucky days with a few really nice ones and then a few ridiculously hot ones.

We had 2 Earth Scout meetings, 2 book club meetings and 2 co-op days. They all went well.

With Earth Scouts, I'll be changing the schedule a bit for the summer months. We usually have a hard time getting enough kids there to make the meeting worth it, so we're going to cut back to once a month. And those will be outdoors. So this weeks meeting will be the last indoor meeting until Fall. If the weather is too nasty we'll come up with something else.

Book club is going very well. This weeks meeting, we'll be discussing the 4th Percy Jackson book, The Battle of the Labyrinth. I must say, these books are really good! The 5th book is released today, The Last Olympian. So we are heading to Border's this evening to grab it up. I really wish Amanda would read these, I think she'd enjoy them also. So, with the kids reading the Percy books, we'll be holding a Mythology Bee. This will be on May 15th, not our usual book club day. Some of the kids will either be on vacation or moving, so we bumped it up a few days so they can participate.

Co-op has ended for this school year. May 1st was the last meeting, which the kids and I missed due to some UPS deliveries I needed to be here for. :( I'll miss co-op, but also thankful for the break. I am not sure what we'll do come fall. I might just rejoin for Jake and I, and Amanda can come along if she wishes. Jake really likes it, and so does Amanda... but for her, its just so terrible to have to wake up so early. I think starting at 11am would be a good idea though. LOL Hint hint Marti if you read this. ;)

So we have some fun stuff coming up in May with Earth Scouts and Book club. Plus we'll be continuing with the Geo-Club, once a month.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, so we're having a potluck picnic at the park with friends. I really, really, really hope the weather cooperates with us today!

So that's what's going on in a nutshell (or a nuthouse?) with us lately. :)

Week in review

So I'm trying to get back into the habit of blogging more about our school life. :) So here's what we were doing this past week.

Math - Not as much math work was done as I had hoped, but they both did get a decent amount finished. Amazingly I think Amanda finished more than Jake. She's at the mindset now where the more she does, the sooner she'll be done (thankfully!!).

Geography - Geo-club is going well. We did miss the last meeting though. :( My kids are not super into it, but they do learn (and remember) some interesting things as we go along.

Reading - Jake has jumped ahead and finished reading the first 4 Percy Jackson books. He really got into them more than I thought he would. So I went ahead and ordered The Demigod Files for him also. The 5th book will be out sometime in the beginning of May. But I don't think we'll use that for the Mythology Bee for the book club. We might still read that but not sure if everyone will have it before. We'll have to wait and see.

We had another Earth Scouts meeting this week. We've been working on the Peace and nonviolence principle. So we talked about signs & symbols of peace. I showed the kids the symbols and we talked a little about them. Then one of the boys showed the group a bit about meditation, they did some yoga and got all stretched out. :) For the final activity they each colored in a peace Dove (of Picasso's) and wrote some words on their paper that they think of as peaceful.

After ES was the book group. We only have 7 kids reading the Percy Jackson books, and the group was small this week. 4 kids were there. But we still had a great meeting. It's interesting hearing what the kids think about the books. We did have a bit of an issue though. Some of them have read all through the first 4 books (my son included) and they are getting the books mixed up. Which I had a feeling was going to happen. (Mental note to myself: I need to email the group and have them re-read for next meeting.) So I had to keep them straight on things so they didn't give too much away for those of us who haven't read that far.

And on Friday, we had another co-op meeting. Co-op day is always fun, but as I've said, I come home with a terrible headache. LOL The things we go through for our kids. ;) First class is Wizardology. I have Jake (& Amanda but she just reads something else) in the class. We had a small group this week, just 3 out of 6 boys. So it was MUCH calmer and quieter. lol We actually finished the last 3 lessons in the handbook, which completes the Spring lessons. So now the boys can do the Summer lessons at home and they'll have completed the entire "course" on Wizardology. :) So for our next class, I think we'll view a movie. So I need to find a good one to show.

Then in the 2nd class, Jake had dissection. They did the starfish. That was pretty cool. I'll upload some pictures later. Jake had a medium sized starfish, so you could see things fairly nicely. Lots of digestive yuck. lol Amanda was in photography during 2nd period. Not sure exactly what she did. I know she needs to get some pictures printed up.

And that was our week. We have nothing NOTHING!! planned for next week. But I do need to figure out a day to have some kids over for a going away party for one of Jake & Amanda's friends. His family is moving to Australia soon for 2-3 years. But that's about it. Let's hope the week is a calm and quiet one. :D

Catching Up!!

I haven't posted anything homeschooling wise here in awhile. This is after all a homeschooling blog, not a Lost blog which it would seem it has become. hehe So here is a bit of what we've been up to recently.

Jake had decided to join the dissection class at co-op. Of course this was after the 3rd class, so I had to get his kit ordered. A group of us went together and placed a large order of various items through the Home Science Tools website. Very cool stuff by the way. I order his dissection kit, complete with tool kit, 7 specimens and dissection guides. Then I also picked up a mini chemistry kit, I think there are about 30 different experiments. Several us then went together to get a bulk discount on owl pellets & cow eyeballs.

Jake and I did one of our owl pellets last week. Very cool! Here are some pics:



We did our eyeballs yesterday with a group of friends. That was still cool, just a tad bit gross. It certainly wasn't as bad as I was expecting though, and I did have fun. (I'm one of the kids that refused dissecting anything in middle school.) Here's a few pics:



The beginning of March went went on a mini vacation. We headed off to Williamsbug, VA for 3 days, staying 2 nights at Great Wolf Lodge. It was great, the kids had a fabulous time at the Lodge and can't wait to go back again. We had some issues with our meals, and Amanda ended up getting sick the last day there (not sure if it was a stomach virus or from the food). So next time we go, we'll certainly be taking more of our own food to make. hehe



Jake and I are still reading the Percy Jackson books, Amanda has decided to not join the group. So she will be reading a series of books on Colonial Williamsburg children. Jake is on Book 3, I'm just getting started on Book 2.

And we're enjoying using the Trail Guide to US Geography and sharing with our group. We have our next meeting this coming Thursday. So here are our plans for the week -

Math: Both kids need to get caught up with their math.

Reading: We'll continue to make time during the day for all 3 of us to be able to read in peace. :) So this means, we'll have a designated reading time.

Geography: We have a bit more to finished by Thursday in our 2nd region for geo-club.

And I'm not sure what else we'll get into. We have some science work in our Story of Science books, plus I think we might do a chemistry experiment or 2. We have some history work to do. I Ave a paper model of the Jamestown Settlement we never got around to doing, so I think we might do this as well.

So that's a bit of what we've been up to. I'll try harder to update more regularly. :D

This weeks schedule

I know it seems as if this has become a blog for Lost. LOL But with everyone being sick so much lately, there hasn't been a ton to post school-wise.

So for this week we have to do the following:

Math - Get caught up through at least book 3. Amanda has a lot more to do than Jake does.

Reading - Finish reading The Lighting Thief (Book group on Wed.)

Science - we're going to skip science this week so we can focus on math mainly.

Geography - Finish up Region 1 work in Trail Guide to US Geography notebook.

Then I need to get materials gather for Earth Scouts on Wed. We make peace flags on paper, and this week we are transferring these onto material for a hanging flag. The kids will then be able to use a metal clothes hanger to display their flags on.

Jake has some work to finish up for Wizardology for Friday's co-op. Amanda has some photography homework to do.

Thursday the kids are having some of the homeschool teens over for a game day. I think they'll mainly be playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

So we have lots of things to do this week, not much time spent at home, or at least home alone. LOL

Plans for the week

We have some assignments to do this week for our book club and co-op. So with our regular work, we'll be keeping quite busy.

I am going to just list by subject. I'm not doing so well with the daily schedules. if something comes up, then we get behind and I feel like a slacker. *sigh* So anyways, here's what will be keeping us busy this:

Math - Both kids have their books and what pages need done by Friday. They've been slacking a bit on this, so this is the week they need to get caught up. By Friday, they'll be finished book 2.

History - We have some more worksheets to finish up for the explorers/Lewis & Clark. Then we'll be starting in with the Pioneers.

Reading - We have the first 11 chapters of The Lighting Thief to read. Plus work in their reading journals for that.

Science - I want to get at least 5 lessons completed by Friday.

The kids both have a research paper on Orca's for our co-op's Wizardology class. So they need to get their data sheets filled out and prepare to get those typed up.

Things I have to do: Get Pioneer pages printed up; Read over the instructions for the Trail Guide to the US manual and get a date schedule for our Geo-Club meeting; Read over the instructions for the Journey North Mystery Class project.

Tuesday both kids have dental check-ups. And then that evening is Game night at the local game store. So we'll be heading there in the evening to meet with some friends. I'm making a big pan of brownies to take along. Mmmm

Dot Dot Dot

Ok, so I didn't feel like coming up with a title. :D

We've been keeping busy with Math and reading the past few weeks. Finished up George's Secret Key to the Universe, had out last book club meeting for that. We are now beginning the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with The Lightning Thief. All of the kids seem to be really into it.

We've had 2 back-to-back Earth Scouts meetings as well. Last week was our badge ceremony. And we discussed a bit about the next principle we'll be doing, Peace and Non-violence. So the kids acted out some situations where they had to come up with a peaceful solution. This had them quite rowdy so we moved into doing some yoga. lol

Yesterday's Earth Scout meeting they all made mini books for Peace Journals. Some of them went ahead and wrote/drew in what they do to find peace. Others will fill it out later. I am looking forward to seeing what each kid puts into their journal.

We've had our first SALT Co-op meeting of the semester. I am only teaching one class this time around, but I helped out in the younger kids science class. Then I hang out with the teens that are doing the videos. So I don't get to sit and chat with the moms very much, but at least I can leave most of the thinking and planning to others. hehe

We finished reading the Lewis and Clark book. The kids just weren't into this book. I don't think they got much at all from it. So we'll continue on with something else.

So that's about it. I am looking foward to the weekend. I'll post our schedule for next week sometime soon. :)