Homeschool Highlights - The First Week of the New Year

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Welcome to Homeschool Highlights! 

This weekly link-up is your opportunity to share some highlights of what is happening in your homeschool and in your world each week. If you write a wrap-up post at the end of each week, like I've been doing, we'd love to see what you're busy with from week to week. If you'd like to pick a favorite post from your week that spotlights a resource or activity in your homeschool that you'd like to tell others about, we're interested in those too. I'm keeping the guidelines as simple as I can, and they will appear at the bottom of each post, along with the link tool. I look forward to getting to know you, and I hope this will be a source of encouragement and good ideas for all of us.

Grab a cup of coffee and let's get started!

Homeschool news  . . .  It was tough to get back to schoolwork this week, but it had to be done! Not only did Kennady need to start back to routine after the Christmas vacation week, but there was New Years and a bout of illness to contend with as well. She's worked on her French, and has been running her speech by me as she's fine tuning it. I know she's been reading for History, and I can only hope her writing assignments are coming along as well. It would be overly optimistic for me to think she might have worked on any Math this week. I'm gathering myself for that showdown starting next week, because the Consumer Math cannot be put off any longer.

Other news . . . We had an uneventful drive back from Columbus on Saturday, and made pretty good time. It was nice to get home early enough in the evening to get everything unpacked, laundry started, and even get a decent night's rest before church on Sunday morning. I had our music ready to go for the worship team, so I ran through it to refresh my memory on Saturday evening, and then we had our practice on Sunday morning. A little bit risky, because if something went horribly wrong, we didn't have much time or many options, but of course everything went great and we didn't need any of the back-up plans I'd made!

It was back to work on Monday for me and for Landon, but hubby and Spencer had the day off. I hurried home after work so I could get some food prepared for the New Year's Eve party we were attending. I wish I'd had time to take a nap too! None of us were feeling one-hundred percent, to be honest. The hubster had been feeling rather poorly, as a matter of fact, and he opted to stay home rather than go to the party. Landon had made other plans, so Spencer and Kennady came with me to represent. We had a very good time, but it was pretty low-key. Two of the families have little kids so they didn't stay late, and the rest of us decided to just stick it out long enough to toast the New Year but not bother with fireworks or anything of that sort. We spent the entire evening just visiting, which was perfectly fine! I think we were home by 12:30am!

We'd planned to have a low-key New Year's Day as well, although hubby had asked for a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I skipped the sweet potatoes and only had one vegetable instead of two, but we had all the other trimmings! Once again, Landon had other plans, so it was just four of us for dinner. It was a good thing we were keeping it low-key, because we were all feeling just a bit under the weather.

Wednesday was a work day for everyone except Kennady, for whom it was a school day. I worked only a half day, and by the time I got home I felt pretty awful and spent most of the afternoon and evening sleeping. Thursday was much better, although we were all lacking energy. At least we didn't have to go to co-op! I think we're mostly recovered today.

What's New . . . A new year means new calendars! I really enjoy turning the page each month and seeing a fresh new set of days, so starting new calendars for a new year is quite a pleasure. I like to go through and add all the birthdays and anniversaries for the year, as well as my usual first of the month ritual of plugging in the appointments and activities I know of for January. I wish that the squares on the calendar didn't get filled up so quickly with so many activities, but I try to remind myself that whether the days are busy or not, each of them is an opportunity to make memories and to make a difference.

the perfect kitchen calendar - this is the one I use to keep track of all those appointments and events

A new picture of my granddaughter every month!

My copy of the family picture calendar I send to the
grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

I expect there will be some new habits we'll try to form in order to better ourselves, and some renewed motivation to do better at staying healthy and all those other good things. Already I've started rearranging my kitchen and have started a new prayer journal. I might even have lost some weight already - although that would be due to feeling sick more than any willpower or healthier habits!

How about a new Word for 2019? I haven't chosen a Word of the Year yet, and I don't know for sure if I will. I probably should. I've got some ideas. If you have chosen a Word of the Year and have blogged about it, please stop by the Homeschool Review Crew blog and link up! This link is open to all bloggers!

I recommend . . . visiting SchoolhouseTeachers.com and checking out all the new content! They are adding interactive content to many of the courses to make them even better. Biology course students can now label diagrams, focus in on key terms and concepts, view full-color photographic slides to walk them through dissections, and take auto-graded quizzes. And those quiz results are sent straight to Mom's email too! SchoolhouseTeachers.com is constantly adding new features, and I'm sure even more goodness is in the works. Did you know your membership rate never increases as long as you remain a member? That's right - no matter how much great stuff is added, your rate is locked in. January is a great time to do that too, if you're not already a member. The 2019 Fresh Start, New Year Special gets you started at $90 yearly rate or $9.95 monthly rate, and that's everything the site offers for your whole family. Curriculum from PreK through Grade 12, everything in between, and lots of extra resources for record-keeping and parenting. If you're looking to switch some things up as you head towards second semester, this special couldn't come at a better time.

On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Homeschool Coffee Break:

A Columbus Christmas PhotoJournal
Virtual Refrigerator - Blurryface Complete Set
It's A Wonderful Story

And on my book blog, Just A Second:

Share Four Somethings - December 2018
Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Vacation
Monthly Bookshelf Review - December 2018
Recent Reads - Silent in the Sanctuary
Scripture and a Snapshot - We Are Filled With Joy
Recent Reads - The Gift of the Magi

Just A Second is where I share book reviews and other book-related things, and update on what's on my bookshelf. This week I finished and reviewed Silent in the Sanctuary: A Lady Julia Grey Mystery by Deanna Raybourn, and I've been reading:

My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream by Pepper Basham

A parting shot . . . I got some dollar store birthday poppers as part of a late birthday present, so I shared them with all the family members (including a couple of auxiliary kids) and this is the result. Yes, I left them there. And I think this should be standard practice for all our family birthdays from now on.

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