Homeschool Mother's Journal: Back to School Edition

In our homeschool... it was our last week of summer break, at least officially. Kennady finished up her lapbook project, and Landon worked on his Bible study. I worked on lesson planning, and put together a daily/weekly school schedule that we are test-driving. We had our first plan-ahead meeting too. We are going to be focusing on a country or specific region in the Americas each week through the school year, and during that week we want to try to include some foods from that country and sometimes an art project or something along that line. We decided to discuss the possible menu items and projects a week in advance, so that we can be prepared - how's that for thinking ahead!? Our first country is Argentina, so we looked at some recipes last week and decided what we wanted to do and which day this week. If this project works, I should be able to post updates on our recipes (a lot of them will come from the delightful blog Global Table Adventure) and projects regularly.

Now that we are back to school, I will also plan on going back to posting my Homeschool Mother's Journal on Saturdays.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share... I think it's a good idea to stay especially flexible at the beginning of the school year, as we settle into schedules and new routines. I have a tentative timetable for our schooldays that makes sense to me, but already Landon suggested a change he thinks would make more sense. We are still figuring things out, so we're going to try my way one week, and his way one week and see which works better.

In other news... On Monday evening DH and I went to dinner at Buca di Beppo with another couple. They are friends of ours who provide us with firewood during the winter, and we thank them by taking them out to dinner occasionally. The most difficult part of this wonderful arrangement is finding an evening that we are all free to get together for dinner.

Tuesday evening I attended the parents orientation meeting for the children's chorus Kennady will be singing in this year. My head is still swimming! There's a lot of information to take in, and it's a big commitment. And as I type this, I'm reminded that I still need to email the parent volunteer coordinator to let her know which areas I'm available to help in over the year.

Kennady opened her first savings account at the bank this week. She had some birthday money left that she hadn't spent yet, and since she didn't have anything specific in mind, I was finally able to convince her that she could open an account. She was delighted to get a piggy bank as a bonus!

And finally, we had a very busy Sunday. Following the morning service, we had a church dinner and baptism celebration. Then our family went to a birthday party in the evening.

One of my favorite things this week... We celebrated a baptism service at church yesterday and it was thrilling to see so many young people declaring their trust in Jesus as their Savior.

Things I'm working on... well, a new schedule and routine is the biggest thing, as we try to get rolling with a new school year! I worked on my studies, and my lesson plans last week. I've also been busy working on a new ministry through the church - a food ministry that I will be heading up. I finally got the application sent in and I am hoping we will be ready to roll with that by sometime in September!

A photo and link to share... I wish I had some official first day of school pictures, but I don't. Last year at least Kennady still cooperated for that. This year, even she decided she didn't want a First Day picture. Boo. I'll sneak a schoolwork picture somewhere along the way and make it work! LOL

What I do want to share is the link to the blog I mentioned, Global Table Adventure. I am pretty sure I've shared this link before. The blog author decided to cook her way through 195 countries of the world, one week at a time, and she shares her recipes and other information as she goes. They are nearing the end of their adventure (I think they are in United Arab Emirates this week), and it looks like there will be a book coming out sometime after the project is completed. The website is a fantastic resource for cooks and for homeschoolers. Visit her Interactive Map to see which countries she's cooked. You may want to take up the challenge of the Global Table Experience. Last week she cooked Ukraine, and I followed her recipe for Baked Lokshyna, which is pretty similar to a dish my family has called Lazy Vereniki ('vereniki' is the Low German name for perogys, which we make with a cottage cheese and egg filling instead of with potatoes).

See the bacon? Anything with bacon will get good reviews here!

On the bookshelf...

• The Stones Cry Out by Randall Price
• Sticky Faith by Dr Kara E Powell and Chap Clark, Ph.D.
• A Time for Silence by Philippa Carr
• A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Finished The Matters at Mansfield by Carrie Bebris and The Black Swan by Philippa Carr.

A parting shot...

This post is linked at SoYouCallYourselfaHomeschooler.com and at Hammock Tracks - see how soon other homeschoolers are going back to school.

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