Homeschool Mother's Journal - In Which We See Stars

In our homeschool... We tried to focus more on schoolwork this week, but as we get closer to Christmas that presents challenges.  To start with, I let the kids work on their own on Monday since DH and I had been away on the weekend and didn't get home until mid-afternoon.  The rest of the week, we worked on History and started reading Little Town on the Prairie aloud.  We also worked on Latin and Language Arts. Spencer has completed most of the studying required for his Graphic Design course and should be able to finish the projects by the end of the semester.  He does need to get back on track with English, however.

We've been taking a break from Astronomy lately, but Thursday night's new moon and a beautiful clear sky gave us a perfect opportunity to view the Geminid meteor showers.  It was a cold but spectacular hour or so spent standing in our front yard marveling at the stars, identifying constellations, and watching for falling stars.

In other news... DH and I had a busy weekend, starting with a Hershey Bears game on Saturday night.  On Sunday evening, we went to a Michael W Smith concert.  He entertained with his Christmas music, accompanied by the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, in the historic Lyric Opera House.

The rest of the week held the usual busy-ness - church activities, shopping, hockey games, and similar things.

Helpful homeschooling tips/advice to share... Stay up late or get the kids out of bed if you have to, but do your best to see things like the meteor showers.  Just start school an hour later the next day.  It's worth it!

What's working/not working for us... Well, now that we have Visual Latin back on track, we need to do the same with our writing program.  I've let it slide lately, and want to get back at it, but I'm not sure whether to pull it out again this week, or just wait until after the holidays.

Thoughts/questions I have... how do I get my subscription to The Old Schoolhouse magazine on my Kindle?  I know it's probably very easy, but I'm still learning my way around!

One of my favorite things this week... star-gazing with my kids.

A photo/video/quote or link to share... free printables for a Names of Jesus study, just in time for Christmas.  Go to Marine Corps Nomads to download the set.

Source: marinecorpsnomads.com via Kym on Pinterest

On the bookshelf...

• King Alfred's English by Laurie J White
• Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander
• Sarai: A Novel by Jill Eileen Smith

Finished Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T Bergren.  Not only that, but I remembered to write about it on my book blog, Just A Second!

And... I am the proud owner of a new Kindle Fire!!!!! Yeah, I'm just a little excited.

A parting shot...

This post is linked up at iHomeschoolNetwork - see whether other homeschoolers were stargazing this week too!