Rundown of 2011-2012

So we are just about done with the year. I have K completing five more lessons and one more quiz in math, and finishing her geography notebook. Other than that we are DONE!!! Woo hoo!!

To recap what worked and what didn't:

•  MFW ECC - great concept. I just realized I am a homeschool rebel. Put a teacher manual in front of me with everything planned and I can't use it. :-) We basically ended up setting up the notebook as it said to. Then I placed all of the country pages from the Trip Around the World and Another Trip Around the World books into their respective continent section.  We also used the John 3:16 sheets for our notebook. The passports were great. The kids loved it and we did those as it said. I added in the other countries we did as well, so there are LOTS of stickers in the passport. One neat thing we did is, during our fall trip to EPCOT, we got the passport from the World Showcase. Then we got it signed in each of the countries there. When we got home, as we studied on of those countries, we would pull the passport from EPCOT out and place the stickers in there. We would also try to remember any little tidbits the people from the countries told us. It was fun and well worth the $10 for that passport. 
• Abeka Language 3rd grade - This was very technical and gave great instruction. K loved it. Her grammar skills have come far.
• Writing Strands - It was a bust here.
•  Building Spelling Skills - Dropped this like a hot potato. K was just not ready for spelling. 
•  Horizons Math 3rd grade - Great program. However, this is the one area K and I butt heads on. We struggled so hard with math this year. There was one instance when we were talking about subtraction, and I was explaining it for the 10th time; K looks at me and says "Oh! Now I get it. I should have listened sooner." Not Horizon's fault. Once we switched to Teaching Textbooks, math has become a favorite subject.
• Song School Latin - Great  program. Even O has a grasp on basic Latin phrases and words from just listening to the songs!  
• VP Literature Guides (Charlotte's Web, Mary Poppins, Little House in the Big Woods, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, and Misty of Chincoteague) - LOVE these guides and can't wait to delve into Narnia this coming year with the Narnia guide.
• MFW K - Once again a great program. However, I had to manipulate it for my child. O is not a cut and paste, color this in, put an X over that, etc. kid. He did it, but it was torture. We delved into the science part of this and had fun! 
•  Horizons Math K - O begged me for this each and every day! We love Horizons Math!
•  Phonics Pathways - Ditched this for the Reading Eggs program online. He likes that so much more and is now able to read the 8th Dick and Jane primer! 
• Bible - we read this together as a family. Each morning we would start with reading a chapter and then praying together. We also loved the Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes book from the MFW program. K would pick which missionary she wanted to learn about and we would read a bit about him/her each morning.

My mommy lesson from this year? Do not use a boxed curriculum again. It ended up costing us more because I tweaked so much. For now I will stick to the method of looking at the boxed curriculum, picking which books interest me, and then piecing it all together. The next time I may try an all in one type of thing would be middle school. Unless I can be talked out of that in the next 2-3 years. ;-)

Batman Band Aids = LOVE

A few days ago O (my little firecracker) was sitting with me, then ran away at full speed. Nothing new. He came barreling back with his coveted box of Batman Band Aids and then proceeded to "doctor" my boo-boo. After bandaging my paper cut, he then gave me snuggles to make it better. The thought that went into that action, the care and compassion, blew me away. He saw a hurt and he fixed it with all the love a 5 year old boy could offer.

I learned a lot that day from my sweet boy. It was a lesson I needed. As a homeschooling mom I am almost constantly around my kids, and can loose sight of how precious they can be. O can be a challenge. He's my reminder that life is not easy. He will move mountains one day with all of his energy, stamina and determination. I am sure of this. Right now? I am struggling to make sure he stays the course and I am not doing wrong by him. It's my daily fear. Whenever he toes the line or crosses it I fear for him. I fear that I am not a good momma, and that I am slacking on my job to him.

But, the day of the Batman Band Aid changed all of that. Instead of constantly focusing on the challenges my 5 year old boy presents (and I'm sure all 5 year old boys bring challenges), I started focusing on the sweetness he holds in his heart. I chose to focus on the snuggles he willing gives whenever I ask. I chose to focus on how helpful he always is when I need something done. I chose to focus on the fact that God knew O was the boy for me. God had placed this child with me because I would be just the right momma for O.

The day of the Batman Band Aid I chose love.

How am I going to love my children? As it is told in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

•  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Happy Mother's Day! May all of my mommy friends have a Batman Band Aid kind of day!

Amy

Updates and more

Well the cast list came out, and K did not make it into The King and I. She was a very brave little girl trying to act grown up about it. She finally ended up curled up in my lap talking it out. I love the way she logics through things. Her final piece of logic was that she didn't make it because her hair was not long enough for a bun. Um. OK. I will let that reasoning stand as her final thought. Personally, I think it was because she rushed the walk during the choreography sequence. I have found the time to discuss with her, since the audition, the importance of paying attention in dance class. She had never connected dance as being so important for theater. Now she knows. With each audition we see her improve and we are just happy she's happy!

I can remember the night she had told me this was her passion. Each and every night since I ask her if it's still fun. The moment this becomes not fun for her we will stop. I am all about my children following their passions. I will also advocate, run lines, listen to songs, watch dances and cheer! However, I refuse to become one of those moms who push their child to the limit and burn the child out. Everything she does for this is by her own accord. I do monitor to make sure she can handle it; but I will never push and have actually refused to let her audition for things. I have also dragged my feet very slowly on her request for an agent. I have contacted one that a friend recommended, and she wants to meet with K. I have yet to follow up and see this through. My thought? Ummm. We should have current pictures to send. Right? LOL.

O is quickly discovering his passions as well. He is really looking forward to his first audition for a fall production. He so wants to follow in his sister's footsteps. But, I want his steps to be of his own making. If the stage is his passion too then so be it. But until we know for sure... this boy is going to be exposed to lots of things.

O's new adventure? Karate! He's loving it. He even has gear! LOL. He has these cute little gloves and shoes for some of the classes. He used them for the first time last night and was over the moon excited about it! His favorite thing to do in class? Punch. This is the best activity ever for little boys. Where else can they punch, kick and yell and it's all OK and mandatory? Plus he gets to practice at home. (Our throw pillows are taking a serious beating! Haha!) Wow. I'm not looking forward to the day he progresses into learning how to use the weapons. Umm.... I guess it's kinda like jedi training and that makes it super exciting to O. One of the main reasons hubby and I love karate is, even with all the kicking and punching, it still requires the person to focus and maintain discipline. That is a lesson that will translate into every aspect of his life!

School is winding down. I looked at the state's DOE website and realized my kids had met or exceeded all standards for their respective grades. Woo Hoo! We only have 14 official days left then it's time off until July 9th! All but one book of our new curriculum is here and my planners get here tomorrow. Tomorrow I plan on taking a picture of the kids surrounded by the new curriculum. I am in awe of it all. I'm so happy about what we are doing next year. I even feel at peace with it. Usually I am still tweaking and altering stuff by this point. However, this time as each book or manual came in I felt so happy. This will be a good year.

Well, off to make sure O gets to sleep. Good night everyone. Sleep well.

Family outing!

This week passed relatively calmly. We finished with our homeschool ministry for the year this past week. This is always a conflicting thing for me. I LOVE teaching these kids and getting to know each one. On the other hand... I will not miss getting up at 6:00 am on Tuesdays. My kids are incredibly sad it's over with too. We begin again next August and it's already on my calendar in bold letters!

Today we went to Legoland in Atlanta. I was so excited about our trip to this place. My expectations were probably too high though. We started by getting there early so O could spend his Lego gift card in the shop. Well.... We were told that Legoland is technically not Lego so they couldn't take the gift card. Ummm.... K was totally confused. LOL. She looked at the lady at the register and asked "How are you not Lego? You have Lego in your name here!" So just remember if you are headed to Legoland do not take your gift cards. Also the selection of the store was very limited. There were no sets of the Lego Friends available. The wall of bricks was bare. Most of the sets there are readily available at Walmart and other stores. I was able to get a Hermione key chain though! I love that girl's spunk! :-)

We went in to get our tickets and realized we did not bring socks for O, but we were able to buy a pair for about a dollar. Not bad, no complaints. Then we went into the land itself. The size was really small. Think about the size of a Kohls or smaller. To give you an idea: while I was at the play area with O and K I could see all other attractions. The layout was pretty basic and easy to find your way around (pro).

There was no rhyme or reason to the lines to enter an attractions. There were no cues, or flow, to most of the attractions. Kids kept cutting in front of other kids. At the play area there was chaos. The guy letting kids in was randomly allowing the kids in. One time one child would exit and one would be allowed to enter. The next time one child would exit and he let four kids in. Huh?? At the 4D movie the time to the next show was completely wrong. We got in line when it said 5 minutes to next show and 20 minutes later we were let in. Also the restrooms were a bit on the ick side.

One rule that they have is you are not allowed to bring any food or drink in. I had asked on their facebook page if they had gluten free options. Legoland responded and said yes they did. Ummm.... mandarin oranges are gluten free, but you cannot make a meal off of them. So, when we were there today, we asked if we could go out and come back in. The first person we asked said yes! Yay. We finished up our ride and went to leave. Then the guy at the exit said nope! Once you are out, you are out. Umm...... By this point hubby was getting a bit angry. We told the guy at the exit what we had been told by the first person, and about our allergies. He did talk to a manager and get it cleared for us to re-enter. However, this is a huge gripe of mine. If a place is going to prohibit food and drink then they should accommodate food allergies. If they choose not to? Then they need to allow people to leave and return.

Now all this being said, I am spoiled. We are a Disney family (we go once a year and more if we can). :-) I have gotten used to the level and quality of service Disney provides. After we left Legoland today I told dh that I need to remember to lower my expectations. It's sad that I would have to do that, but I guess I will.

Bottom line? The kids had fun. We did get the discount tickets so our price was lower. Would we go back again? Um. No. Not even with the discount tix (still $50).