I was so sad to see the days of Summer go away. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the kids and visiting the beach and waterslides each week. I did find, however, that as the smoke filled days filled our August, it made the coming of Fall seem more desirable.
School is certainly a challenge this year!
Gone are the days when we can whip school off by noon. I find that the older the kids get, the more time is required for their course load. Even taking a day off requires much planning and reorganizing of our work load. I'm hoping as we continue on in the year and make some progress at getting ahead, that this will become easier.
Aiden and Caileigh are taking three online classes this year and each course requires up to an hour of study a day. This then leaves us with the other 3-5 subjects to complete on our own.
Mikayla is working on two online classes and I have been thrilled to see how much she enjoys it! She is already a month ahead on her English course. I have never seen this much independence from her. If she continues, she'll complete English 5 by March.
The boys are still plugging away with me as their primary teacher:) Their lessons are a lot of fun and they are doing well with the bigger challenge of grade 3. They are also young enough that we can finish up their school earlier......if they cooperate and work diligently:)
Caileigh participates in a fitness class each week through the homeschool group and the younger three attend a Project Builders class. Everyone really enjoys this time spent with their friends. The older three are all attending several Youth and Jr Youth groups. Mikayla attends GEMS.
The kids and I have all volunteered to help with our church's Kids Club. The younger two attend the club and the older kids each have a place to help out. Aiden helps with sports in the gym, Caileigh in cooking class, Mikayla in the K-Gr. 1 class and I'm teaching Highland Dancing. I love that we can all serve together each week.
Everyone is continuing with piano this year except for Mikayla who is doing Musical Theater. She recently auditioned for a part in the upcoming Elf production and was happy to receive the part as Shawanda the Elf. I look forward to seeing the play before Christmas.
(First Day of School Waffles.....clothing optional)
(Easing back into school with plenty of games the first week)
(Learning about erosion)
(Layers of the earth edible experiment)
(Layer of the earth poster and Mikayla)
(Online school)
(Making volcanoes and erupting them!)
(Field trip to OKeefe Ranch)
(Learning about sedimentary rocks)
(Studying rocks)
(Alex making salt dough for his landforms project)
(Everyone working away)
(Face Painting and regular seniors home visits)
(Jordan finishing up his book so he can write a book report)
(Mikayla loved her homework for her Project Builders class. Making chocolate creations!)
(Grandma won tickets to the hockey game so Sean and the three boys went. Alex and Jordan loved their first hockey game!)
(Volunteering on the weekends)
(Maybe iron infusions will help me to keep up with all the busyness!)
