Homeschool Weekly - Winter Storm Edition

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In our homeschool . . . It's amazing, but I think we may be caught up or at least well on the way in all our subjects! The only one I'm concerned about at this point is math - Kennady is still dawdling in hers, and I am still trying to get Landon's Consumer Math course set up for second semester. Which officially starts on Monday, so I sure hope I can get that figured out early in week! I've got it prioritized on Monday's to-do list. Happily, we just got started reviewing an online resource for worksheets and tests, Help Teaching, and I've found several helpful Consumer Math and Personal Finance things there that will supplement what we're doing.

loaded on up physics worksheets from HelpTeaching.com!

Speaking of Help Teaching, I've also been busy in the Science section of the website, and have printed out a bunch of Physics tests and worksheets that Landon will be working on. He's doing well in the Science Survey course, and should soon be caught up to that halfway point that we should have already reached! Kennady is moving at a slower pace in that course, but the math concepts are definitely more challenging for her since she hasn't already got Algebra under her belt. And to be honest, she has a lot more time to get it done, so I'm not too worried.

Both kids got a lot done in Grammar and Composition this past week, and in some of their other courses as well. We certainly shouldn't plan on taking breaks every other day at this point, but we're in pretty good shape again. Good thing, because they got to take the afternoon off yesterday to join some friends for a bit of an art class. A friend offered to teach several of the teens some basics of stained glass and they made small star ornaments. (Guess what I'll be featuring on the Virtual Fridge this coming Thursday!?)

In other news . . . Our week was really a pretty normal one, although it was certainly a bit frustrating for us to work hard at our worship team practice on Wednesday evening knowing that it was pretty much expected that Sunday service would have to be cancelled because of the coming winter storm. Landon even played drums with us at practice, and it really sounded great! But sure enough, church services are cancelled. We wished we'd recorded the practice!

The snow started yesterday afternoon and continued steadily through the evening and all night. It seems like the winds haven't been as strong as originally predicted, but they are definitely picking up this morning, and the snow is still coming down and still piling up! At this point, I'd guess we'll be snowed in for the whole weekend. On the plus side, so far the power hasn't even flickered, and our satellite services for internet/phone and TV have been unaffected. (Now watch the electric or satellite go out, right as I'm about to hit "publish" on this post! That would be my luck!)

I am so thankful that Spencer did not have to go to work yesterday after all - the thought of him driving home in the worsening conditions would have stretched my nerves! He was originally scheduled to work today, but we don't think the restaurant even opened. He's still waiting to hear from them to confirm, but it's extremely doubtful we'd be able to get over to the highway safely in any case. I mean, seriously. One of the guys came over on the tractor to pick the hubster up so he could get to the greenhouse for work today. The road has been plowed (by a neighbor, not by the county yet) but digging out the end of our driveway would take a couple hours.



So, we are praying for the safety of all those who do need to be out in this weather - police, emergency personnel, those clearing roadways, linemen and so many others - and are thankful for their services.

Things that made me smile . . . looking for ideas for the quilt that will be one of Gramma's grad presents to Landon. She made quilts for my older boys for grad, and this year is doing one for Landon and one for my nephew who will also be graduating. Landon and I spent some time browsing Pinterest for color combinations and patterns he found appealing. He was mostly drawn to bold geometric patterns in blues, but then started thinking he wanted something that looked like bacon. Hahaha!! I suggested to my mom when I talked to her last night that maybe a classy blue quilt top and using a bacon print fabric for the backing might be the way to go!

Organizing Our Homeschool Challenge . . . This challenge continues, although I am not participating nearly every day. This week there were a few different focus areas - notably our teacher's books and planners, and things like board games and puzzles. My one pile of record books and planners was heaped with all kinds of unrelated papers and nonsense, so I did tidy that up (forgot to get a "before" picture, so you'll just have to believe me that it was a hot mess!); and did a little reorganizing with my teacher's edition books.

The last mini-challenge of the week was to set up or designate a cozy reading corner or space. I suspect the challenge was more to establish a place for kids to read, but since my kids are older and like to read in their own rooms, I thought about my own plans. It just so happens that the hubster and I came up with a plan some time ago to move things around in our family room and make a sort of library corner for me. I'd acquired a large bookshelf several months ago that was to go in that corner once we'd cleared it out, and the boys moved it into place for me at the beginning of the week. In other words, before I knew that would be part of the challenge! That said, we didn't really get any further than that, but it's something I'll be working on a bit starting this weekend - moving books and music to that shelf, cleaning out the boxes that are still "stored" on the floor in that area, and moving the table. Once there's room to do so, that other smaller shelf will be moved out completely, and we'll set up a reading lamp and an armchair or my rocking chair. (The reason we have so many boxes and things cluttering up the floor was that we had to completely empty the room for carpet to be laid in the summer and then started completely reorganizing the spaces afterwards. It's slow going figuring out where things go and what we're getting rid of.)

You can join the Organize Your Homeschool in 20ish Days Challenge Facebook group at any time, although we only have one week of real-time challenges left to go!

I recommend . . .  SchoolhouseTeachers.com, especially with the special pricing available right now. It's always a great deal, but until January 31, 2016, you can get a 50% discount on a one-year subscription, by using the coupon code: CREWFOLLOWER.

On my blog last week . . .


From the High School Lesson Book - The Star-Spangled Banner
Virtual Refrigerator - Pentatonix
Ham and Swiss Dip Bread Bowl
My Favorite (Teen) Son

On the bookshelf . . .

The Painter's Daughter by Julie Klassen
Worship Changes Everything by Darlene Zschech
 A Taste of Traditional Regency Romances: Extended excerpts of Regency novels (Bluestocking League Book 1) by Gail Eastwood, Camille Elliot, April Kihlstrom, Vanessa Riley, Regina Scott

You can find other reviews and book-related things on my book blog, Just A Second.

A parting shot . . . This bad boy isn't that pretty to look at, but it's heating the house like a BOSS.

    

I am linking up at the Weekly Wrap-Up hosted by Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, at Christian Fellowship Weekend hosted by Biblical Womanhood, and at the Parent Teacher Meet-Up co-hosted by My Reflection of Something, Working on a Project, and The Kellum Adventures.

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