Homeschool Mother's Journal: In Which We Stay the Course

In our homeschool... we had a pretty good week, even though some things didn't go as I'd anticipated.  We did get through a whole unit of history lessons, and Landon and Kennady are both doing really well keeping up with Language Arts and Math.

Cumberland Road - hey, Route 40 isn't too far from our place!

Spencer focused on English this week as he had his first big essay of the year due, and he doesn't like to write.

We did a little reading in our classical astronomy text, but weren't able to get all the projects done.  The boys did get up to do their weekly observation of the sunrise, but didn't get the sunset and twilight observations done because we seemed to be always busy in the evening.  I told them to plan to get that part of the project done tomorrow evening.

We had "started" the week (if it could be said to start on a Saturday!) with a family field trip to Philadelphia.  We visited the Franklin Institute and saw a fantastic IMAX movie about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, saw the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and got some quick looks at the other exhibits as well.  Then we spent a little time in the Independence Square area.  We had to take Landon and Kennady to see the Liberty Bell as they hadn't seen it before.

I know she doesn't look it, but she was excited to see the Liberty Bell!

And on Monday evening, Spencer and I went to a local college fair to get him thinking about what his options might be after graduation.  He is not sure what he wants to do after high school, and he may decide to work for a year or two and then go back to school.  Nothing wrong with that!

In other news...  as I mentioned, we started off on Saturday with that trip to Philadelphia which was a lot of fun with some education thrown in!

Kennady and I started shopping for a guitar and we will probably go purchase the one we have our eye on tomorrow.  She has been saving up her birthday money for a guitar so she can start learning to play.

Today Landon worked with Civil Air Patrol at a WWII Bomber Fly-in at our local airport.  He will be going back on Sunday to work some more and hopefully get a chance to take a flight himself!  While he was there, Kennady and I did a little shopping and went out for ice cream with friends.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice...  I was reminded again this week that I need to avoid making assumptions about what my kids will be interested in and what they are capable of.  I was a little surprised by a couple of the things Spencer was interested in at the college fair, but I tried to let him be the one to answer questions about what he would like to do.  It can be so hard for a parent that leans toward being an extrovert (like me) to NOT speak up and answer for a child who is clearly an introvert (like Spencer)!

What's working/not working for us... I think the morning routine may finally be kind of working again.  I am doing a pretty good job of getting up at the same time each morning, even if DH is sleeping a little later.  And I do my best to go and wake the kids at the same time IF they are not already up.  The boys are doing a much better job of getting up in the morning, but Kennady is still working on getting up on her own.

Thoughts/questions I have... I'm starting to wonder about Landon's high school years, and how I'll list his CAP stuff on his transcript! I don't need to worry about that till next year! LOL

One of my favorite things this week... was on Saturday at Franklin Institute.  During the IMAX movie, Kennady was in awe of the incredible scenery of the Canadian Rocky Mountains on that huge screen.  Her expressions of amazement were worth it, especially when I could often say "I've been there!" when the film showed a town or location in Canada that I remembered well.

A photo/video/quote or link to share...

On the bookshelf...

• Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson with Sally Clarkson
• Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter J Leithart, with Shakespeare's Hamlet
• I Am the Chosen King by Helen Hollick
• Voices in a Haunted Room by Philippa Carr

Finished Knave of Hearts by Philippa Carr.

A parting shot...  seen on a work van in front of us at the gas station today:

This post is linked up at iHomeschoolNetwork - see how other homeschoolers are staying on course this week!