Week 2

Week 2 is almost over and I feel like we are finally getting into a groove of sorts.  There have been a few ups and downs as we've gone through some "growing pains" this week but overall we have made some progress academically so that's what counts, right?

I had made the decision to back up in Math and take it slower which has turned out to be a good strategy. I'm not fighting the twins during Math time so much to do the work.  When it was way over their heads it was turning into a huge battle to get the math work done in 45 mins instead of it taking all morning!  Now it's taking the appropriate time with a little time to spare.  I'm slowly introducing them to multiplication facts and reviewing addition and subtraction.

It seems like the first 2 hours of the morning goes great and than the next two kind of fall apart!  Right now they are supposed to be reviewing for a History quiz tomorrow but they are rolling around in the basement on the chairs Ryan bought for them yesterday!  I keep telling them that as soon as they are done with the review we can eat lunch but that's not proving to be much motivation this morning:)  We really need to get a big carpet remnant down so that they can't do so much rolling!

Kaitlyn asked me at the beginning of the week if we could do "marbles" like they did at school where they accumulate marbles for good behavior and get them taken away for bad behavior.  They work towards collecting 50 marbles at which point they get to have a "Marble Party".  I'm not sure what the Marble Party is going to consist of and gauging on how today has gone I've got a little bit of time to get it figured out:)  At school they usually had a special dress day and got to bring in drinks and snacks and watch a movie.  Instead of that we may go roller skating or bowling or something.  I'm open to ideas!

Gym & Swim on Tuesday was interesting.  Kenton joined right in on the gym portion of class but wouldn't get into the water for the swim part.  He's a good swimmer so I'm really not sure why he decided not to participate.  He did say something about being scared of sharks being in the water...

pictures of the classroom

Our Arts and Crafts center and soon to be added Science center

Teacher's desk:)

The couch in the background in the reading corner that we use for centers and for reading the history lessons.

kids desks and front of classroom

 

 

 

 

We Want Heat!!!

Lennox Consumer Affairs

2100 Lake Park Blvd.
Richardson, TX 75080
P.O. Box 799900
Dallas, TX 75379-9900

Dear Michelle/Les,

I spent over an hour on hold waiting to speak to a representative today learning about the Energy Star Efficiency award that Lennox received in 2007.

Congratulations on this achievement! I just wanted to let you know, that my 4 year old Lennox furnace should be included in your future statistics, as you will be sure to win more awards.

It is January 11, 2011 in Chicago (26F), and my furnace has not used 1 unit of gas in almost 2 weeks… What an incredible accomplishment! Unfortunately, I have been told that it will not use any gas for at least one more week as well.

Below are the details of my furnace:

Model Number: G43UF36B07008

Serial Number: S906F01713

Part Needed: Draft Inducer 83M56

Order Number: 1000009977

*When it is convenient for you, please advise when I should expect this furnace to start using gas again.

Kind Regards,

Lennox Customer

Ryan Weiss

12430 Lions Chase Lane

Huntley, IL 60142

630-715-5154

New Feature

I've added a new feature to my blog.  If you look in the right hand corner above the "About Me" section I've added links that I have found helpful for both homeschooling and being a mom!  I will add more websites as I find them that prove helpful in providing worksheets or projects to help kids learn - whether they are in public, private, or homeschool!

Survived the First Week!!!

Our first week of homeschooling is officially over and we all survived!  There were a few moments of tears and frustrations as we worked things out but over all I think we got off to a good start and the classroom is set up and is slowly beginning to fill up with evidence of our work. 

We made the decision to start off our homeschooling experience with the A Beka DVD program where the twins watch a master teacher teach all the lessons in a classroom setting.  We discovered that this wasn't the easiest way for us to start out since we are beginning in the middle of the year and they don't re-explain classroom procedures and are ahead in some of the subjects of where the twins were in school.  The Math for example - A Beka is teaching fourth grade concepts already in third grade and while the twins were in accelerated Math class in school they are still behind the A Beka program.  So today Ryan and I made the official decision to ditch the DVD's and ordered the teacher guides so that I can go back and start where the twins left off in school and try to get them caught up to A Beka by fourth grade.  We may switch to a different Math program next year but in case we don't I want them to be able to start off fourth grade caught up to A Beka.

I also realized half way through the week that I needed to make school more "fun".  I was trying to do all the subjects back to back and wasn't taking breaks for activities that don't require sitting at a desk or to decompress a little.  The kids are only 8 after all:) so we added in "Centers" where they get to pick an activity to do for 20 minutes - Art, Math game on computer, Science Experiment, or Reading Corner - that helps to break up the morning a little and gets them out of their seats.  We also started doing our history lesson in the "Reading Corner" of our classroom which contains a couch so that they are getting a little break from the desk and chair.

Our schedule for the day looks a little like this (more or less as some days we started later or took more time for Math):

8:00 - 8:15 Bible Lesson
8:15 - 9:00 Math
9:00 - 9:20 Centers
9:20 - 9:40 Language
9:40 - 10:00 Journaling/Penmanship
10:00 - 10:15 Snack break
10:15 - 10:35 Spelling
10:35 - 10:55 Reading
10:55 - 11:15 History
11:15 - 11:30 Health

I've had to remind the twins several times (as well as myself) that the schedule is just a guide and that the beauty of homeschooling is that we can take things faster or slower depending on the day and interruptions that come up:)

After lunch we take time to practice piano, do chores, and read.  We also set up a big puzzle on the dining room table that we've been working on when we have free time.  Once a week (Tuesdays from 1 - 3) we will head into Elgin for Gym and Swim...they have a one hour PE class followed by a swim lesson with some free time at the end to just swim around the pool and play.  We start next week and we are excited to see how it all goes!

Evenings consist of activities:  Ballet, Cheerleading for Kait, Piano for both, and Chess club twice a month for Kenton.

It'll be a learning process this semester of what works and what doesn't for our family and I expect that the above schedule/subjects might change a time or two until we've worked out the kinks!  So far it's been fun and I'm finding that I'm learning Math the second time around like I didn't the first time around!  I've also fallen into bed each night mentally exhausted and I'm exercising brain muscles that I forgot I had:)  I've found that I'm enjoying the teaching MUCH more than I thought I would and the kids are enjoying being done with school earlier and not having homework in the evenings. 

PS)  I'll save Ethan for another post!

I'm having one of my "I can't sleep" moments so I decided to get up and get a few things done that kept rolling around in my head while I was trying to go to sleep!  Over the years of struggling occasionally with insomnia I've learned that sometimes it's better to just get up and get whatever I'm thinking about done (and sometimes it's better to just lay there and "rest" - depending on what the next day holds.)  I keep forgetting to run to the post office to mail a few things so I'm getting it all ready and laid out so that there are no excuses in the morning:)

We have a busy but fun week ahead of us.  The twins are done with school tomorrow and than have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving.  We are planning on spending Thursday with Ryan's family and Sat/Sun with my family.  I really love this time of year!! 

Kaitlyn started cheerleading this evening.  We signed her up over a month ago, ordered the uniform and then waited for the e-mail to come telling us when her practices started.  And waited.  And waited!  I finally called the rec center last Friday to find out when she starts only to find out that we had already missed two practices:(  She seemed to slip right into it tonight, though and knew one of the girls so she'll be fine.  It's just my mother-heart that feels bad for letting so much time pass before checking into it!

Anyway, better get that "to-do" list started...this post wasn't on it:)  :)

Christmas Spirit a Little Early!

Sooo - I caved this morning and decided to decorate for Christmas a little early this year!  We aren't hosting Thanksgiving so why not, right??  I was digging into cleaning the house since our recent bout with the flu and thought that as long as I was deep cleaning everything I may as well get the decorations up:)

My biggest challenge this year will be keeping my little one year old buddy away from the tree...hmmmm!