Things are coming together

Had Jon's OT do a quick evaluation of Nicholas to see if we need to really push for a full evaluation at this point.  Thankfully she said that he's age appropriate and while there are a few things, it's nothing we would get services for.  She gave me a few things to do with him, some thicker pencils to help improve his grip, and will check again in a few months to see how he's progressing.

Started Horizons Math with Nicholas this afternoon.  He was using the new pencils and apparently they are doing the job as after half a lesson he was complaining of his hand hurting.  That was the bad news.  The good news was that he needed only a little help, mostly on ordinals that he couldn't sound out and the whole concept of the crossword puzzle since he'd never done one before.

In other good news, Chris did manage to get into the English class.  The bad news on that, he has a 3-4 page essay due on Monday.  Yes, the one that is coming up.  Thankfully it's on what he perceives as his strengths and weaknesses so it sounds like the teacher is trying to get an idea of where the students are at.  It still means that I get to try and find time to help with some revision this weekend.

Could have been better news

Chris started back at CSM today for the fall semester.  He was waitlisted for three classes.  He got into his Body Conditioning class with no problems.  He looks good for getting into the Intermediate Algebra class and will find out for sure on Friday.  English is a problem tho.  The instructor said that the class is full and no waitlisted students are getting in.  He advised them to go be pitiful to the Lang Arts department in hopes of getting a new class going and try back again tomorrow to see if he scared any students away today.  Chris will be trying the second option first but I may tell him to try the first if the second doesn't work.  I do have some English stuff I can do with him here but it's a major pain as it puts us in a bad position for next semester. Not awful, but not where we were hoping to be.  Not sure if there is any way for him to get into any other classes at this point either.  If things don't work out tomorrow, I may have to look into that option.

Not much of a 2nd day

Tuesdays are going to be one of those days were very little book learning happens.  By the time we get up to speed on all the activities, J&N will be in activities from 8:45a-3p straight.  Makes it kind of hard.  We aren't there yet but had other stuff fill in for it today.

So school looked something like this:

• Get J&N ready for swim, wake other kids up
• Leave Matt to do history reading before he went to housesit and Chris to work on accounting while I take J&N to swim
• Finish up with swim, go to grocery store and realize I don't have the coupons I need. Run other misc errands instead
• Drop J off at speech and take N to library to renew library cards and put a hold on some books for N's Five in a Row
• Come home to get lunch and help C find accounting error. J did some typing practice and reading.
• Drop C at dentist and take J&N to do grocery shopping. Taught them about economics (ie. You get this cereal because it's on sale and with coupons it's only $.99 whereas that cereal you are asking for is not on sale and I don't have coupons so it's $4.59 which I'm not paying).
• Teach kids about time management when I have C walk to the grocery store from dentist as that saves me having to drive to library to pick him up there when we have other places to go from grocery store.

After that, it was gaming over at a friend's house which consisted mostly of me learning I read the last campaign wrong and gave them way too many big creatures to go up against which is why 2 of them died.  *shrug*  They came back to life and now they are dealing with the consequences of my actions.  That's what we call a valuable life lesson.

2011-12 First Day of School

First day of the new school and we got off to a pretty rockin' start.  I had a doctor's appointment at 11a so I did what I could with Nicholas before leaving so he just had some workbook stuff to do while I was gone which Mark was on hand to supervise.  We started the morning with Five in a Row at his request (Clown of God this week) and then Hooked on Phonics while playing Mille Bourne.  What a way to combine Math and Reading!  As you can see, he's working hard and super proud of himself!

 Jonathan got all of his school work done nice and early as well except for spelling which I did with him when I got home.  He's almost done with his 5th grade Math and took great delight in telling me this when he got home.

 Matthew stayed in his room much of the day but claims to have gotten everything done.  I still need to grade his grammar test and catch-up to him on his history reading so we can discuss that.  Just need to find more hours in my day to do that.

 School doesn't technically start for Christopher until Wednesday when he goes back to CSM but he has yet to complete the Accounting course he took from me last school year despite my constant hounding so he's paying for that now.  Don't mess with the mama boy!

And here is what happens when you sneak into the teens' room to try and take pictures of them working...  Funny faces and books being thrown at you.

I think we are set!

I think we are set for the start of our new school year tomorrow.  I had a basic plan back in May and started prepping towards that.  We are still awaiting delivery of a few courses but we have almost everything.  Chris is enrolled at CSM although he is waitlisted for all his classes.  It will be a few weeks before all the activities start up which is just fine with me since once those do, it's truly insanity.

So here is what the boys are taking...

Chris 

• Intermediate Algebra (5units, 8th on waitlist)
• English 848 (4units, 19th on waitlist)
• Body Conditioning (1unit, 3rd on waitlist).  

Not many classes but still, at 10units in college, it's a decent load.  We want to focus this semester on getting his non-fiction essay writing up to a college level.


Matthew

• Algebra 2 (Saxon, this will happen after he finishes up Alegebra 1 in about a month)
• Saxon Grammer 7th/8th grade (again, needs to finish the previous before we head up)
• Lord of the Rings unit study (full year-long course studying the books and what went into writing them)
• Oak Meadow Civics (waiting for curriculum to start)
• US History using Story of US by Joy Hakim
• Oak Meadow Physical Science (waiting for curriculum to start)
• Accounting (LifePacs study units)

We'll see how things go as he is taking a lot of classes this year.  If it proves to be too much, I may pull back on the Accounting and save it for next year.  

Jonathan 

• Aleks Math (he is almost done with 5th grade and will be starting 6th grade probably within the month)
• Winston Grammar
• Editor-in-Chief Beginner (4th grade level but I want him to finish before moving on)
• Word Roots Beginner (4th grade level but I want him to finish before moving on)
• Prairie Primer (still working our way through this since we are not using it to cover everything)
• US History using Story of US by Joy Hakim (he'll be going slower than Matt as it's a two year course but Matt started it back in 5th grade so he'll be doing more review where Jon will be going slower since he has time to)
• Macmillian 5th Grade CA Science (I think this is physical science as well)

Jon has some other things like typing practice and critical thinking that are not necessarily curriculum based but help him in areas he struggles in.  

Nicholas 

• Hooked on Phonics (he is currently on the Level 2 box)
• Explode the Code (Book 2 currently)
• Horizons Grade 2 Math
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Five in a Row (almost done with volume 1)
• Various other workbooks from Bright Minds, Kumon, and Costco

Really just focusing on reading good books to him and helping him work on his reading skills.  He's doing well and has started working on blends on already which I think is great.  His math is very advanced so we'll take it easy there and slow down if necessary.  The program looks good tho, lots of review, bright and colorful, brings core concepts back every so often to keep them fresh.

So that is what we will be studying this year.  Well, that and all their extracurricular classes which I'll post more about later.  

2011-12 School Year....It's a big one!

Wow....2yrs has sort of flown by!  Not quite sure where it's gone but I'm pretty sure it was spent chasing and/or chauffeuring children places.  That seems to encompass much of my time on any given day.

This year marks some major milestones for us here.  Nicholas, my last baby, is starting Kindergarten this year.  Jonathan will be in 5th grade and Matthew in 8th.  Christopher, my first baby, is a high school senior.  This will be his second year doing primarily college classes at our local Jr. College but it doesn't change this fact.

I have a child graduating Kindergarten, Elementary, Jr. High, and High School....all this year.  No, I didn't plan it but you can believe we are going to be throwing one huge party come June!

So many activities!

I think with guitar lessons starting on Monday and bowling starting on Tuesday that will officially signal the end of the adding in of activities. So here's what we have:

MONDAY
10a-11:30a Jonathan has Speech and OT (Chris & Matt hang at the library doing
schoolwork and I take Nico grocery shopping)

3p-3:30p Matthew has guitar lesson (Chris stays home while I stay at the park with the other two)

4:30p-6:30p Chris, Matt, and Jon all have KSW (Nico and I drop and run home)


TUESDAY
2p-3p All four boys bowl
5:15p-6:15p Christopher has Young Actor's Workshop
5:30p-7p Jonathan has soccer practice
(Matthew can go to KSW or stay home and practice guitar in peace)


WEDNESDAY
4:30p-6:30p Three big boys to KSW


THURSDAY
10a-11a Matt, Jon, and Nico have swim lessons
4p-5:30p Jonathan has soccer pratice
4:30p-6:30p Chris and Matt have the option of going to KSW


FRIDAY
9:30a-10:50a Matt and Jon have pottery
10a-11:30a Nico has zoo class
3p-6p Chris has biology lab which I teach at a friend's house
Also sometime on Friday, Jonathan's speech teacher stops in for another session with him


SATURDAY
10:15-11:30a Jonathan's soccer game
11a-1p Chris, Matt, and Jon have Pan Moin at KSW (yes, I notice the time discrepancy for Jonathan, he's late every week to his practice for the competition)


So this would be why I roll my eyes when people ask about socialization. I worry a heck of a lot more about trying to find time for academics with them than I do about their social skills. Academic stuff is getting done but it's been a challenge figuring out how to work it in around all the other stuff. I'm really, REALLY hoping to find time to work on that schedule this weekend to get a better idea of what may be able to just come out and where we can trim and/or combine things. At least now I have all the materials so I can hopefully do better than just guessing on the last pieces.
I have to say tho, they are so happy with all their activities. Yes, scheduling it all is a challenge and it keeps us on the go more often than not. Yes, it makes it harder some days to find time for things like the three Rs. BUT, they are finding their creative sides and exploring them and THAT is what I want for them. The basic academics we can get to but letting them explore and create is something that if we deny can be lost forever and that is something too precious to be discarded. I'm so thankful every day that I have the opportunity to open opportunities for them rather than close them away behind budget cuts and state testing needs.