Homeschool Mother's Journal: Almost Picture-less Edition

In our homeschool... We had a pretty good week and were able to get a reasonable amount of work done in Biology (Landon) and on a computer course (Kennady). Of course, I wish the kids had done more! When they think they should be on break, they do only the minimum requirements. I guess I can't blame them! I did tell Landon that once I'd posted my review for High School Biology at Home (scheduled for tomorrow), he could take a break from schoolwork until further notice. Kennady isn't getting off quite so easy because she won't be able to take her break until our review of KidCoder is complete (end of the month?). She's working on a couple other things for reviews that she considers fun.

Kennady had a mostly fun school project she's been working on - you can read about it in my review of Mayan Mysteries from Dig-It Games. She'll keep 'playing' that game for quite awhile too! She got a new project that's mostly fun that she can start working on as well - a project pack from Hands of A Child that we'll be reviewing. Other upcoming reviews that Kennady is helping with include DVDs from BrainFood and from Legacy Documentaries.

And I should have done more with lesson planning last week, but like the kids, I tended to do only the minimum!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share... I started doing something a little bit new last week. I printed out blank activity logs for the boys. We don't want them lying around the house basically doing nothing all summer long, so we've asked them to keep track of how they spend their time each day. Kennady wanted one too, so she got one to start today. I'm hoping this will help them develop the habit of keeping track of their time themselves, which will be important for keeping school records for subjects like music and Phys.Ed., and will help all three of them see how they are spending the bulk of their time. Their estimates are not always very accurate - they may think they spent 'all morning' cleaning the garage, when really they were only out there working for about 45 minutes! I believe students need to take responsibility for tracking their own study time during middle school at least, so they are prepared to do it for themselves when they reach high school.

In other news... Harrison's car was at the shop all week - is still there today, actually - getting necessary work done for the state safety, so we were down to two vehicles again. It wasn't much of an issue, thankfully, but I was getting used to having access to my van whenever I needed it. Oh well, with the car back for our use today or tomorrow, I'll have that luxury again soon enough! Although, we'll have to get the tags on the car as soon as possible, so that's a priority.

My camera has some very minimal functionality, so I haven't been taking pictures. I have a gift card on its way to me, and as soon as it arrives I will be buying a new camera. Can't happen soon enough!

Spencer has been working on some outdoor projects for us, and has been a big help to Kennady in cleaning and organizing her room. The stuff she is purging that isn't trash is piling up in my living room! We're going to have to plan a yard sale!

On the weekend, the hubster was very busy with the hockey tournament he helps to organize. His team didn't win the championship, but Kennady and I won our items at their silent auction! She scored a jacket-vest with the USA Hockey logo and I scored this very cool purse/handbag!

One of my favorite things this week... hearing about how God has been at work in the lives of youth at camps and Creation so far this summer!

Things I'm working on...

Last week's goals were:

• Reviews and other bloggy things - done, although I wish I'd been able to work ahead on some of the things for the end of month. 

• Clean up my desk - pretty good progress!

• Lesson planning - I did a little, not as much as I would have liked, but at least there's progress.

• Buy a new camera - I decided to hold off on the purchase for a bit. I cashed in point on a gift card that I can use, so I'll wait until it arrives.

• Baking - I did bake some bread last week, but that's about it. 

Five Goals for this week:

• Reviews and other bloggy things - trying to work ahead on the scheduled things so I don't wind up with any last minute panics.

• Clean up my desk - continue to peck away at this until it's done. 

• Lesson planning - another ongoing project to keep working at.

• Information hunting and errands etc - I've got a bunch of these types of things on my docket this week. Getting Harrison's car tagged, getting some replacement ID he needs, some follow-ups on church projects, organizing schoolbooks and listing those that I am ready to get rid of, possibly planning a yard sale...

• Baking.

This post is linked at: Our Hearts and Home: 5 Weekly Goals

A photo and link to share... I took my first turn hosting a blog hop last week, and there are still a couple of days before the link-up closes. There are four of us working together to host the updated Virtual Refrigerator blog hop, and we want to get the word out to other bloggers! Each week you can link up your arts and crafts blog posts and visit the other participating blogs. I posted a how-to of a paper cutting project inspired by the art of Henri Matisse. 

  

On the bookshelf...

• A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander
• Wyvern by A.A. Attanasio
• The Good Knight by Sarah Woodbury

Just finished Adventures in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird. Also finished The Spirit Well by Stephen R Lawhead, and The Rebel's Pledge by Rita Gerlach.

A parting shot... I've been taking a few random pictures, because on rare occasion the camera will take one that isn't horribly over-exposed or just blank. This is one of only four successes this week! LOL

This post is linked at SoYouCallYourselfaHomeschooler.com - see if other homeschoolers have more pictures to share this week!

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