The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 2

In my life this week.....it was a busy week, that's for sure!  Lots of errands, lots of chores (that may or may not have gotten done), lots of things on my mind.  Unfortunately, this translates to lots of anxiety for me.  Although I'm still coughing, it IS much better!

In our homeschool this week....our main focus has been on virtues.  We discussed that virtues are "habits" that are pleasing to God.  I pointed out some of my personal "habits" that are not pleasing to God...and that led to some very good discussions.  I could see their wheels turning and I'm pretty sure we all did some self examination.  Olivia was reviewing the letter "A" and that called for an "A"pple craft!

Amelia had a math test this week and she did very well.  We read stories about when Jesus was a little boy and how he showed us how to honor our parents.  We talked about the attributes of Mary (beautiful, handmaid of the Lord, Mother & sinless) and of Joseph (carpenter, husband, teacher, foster father).
Nathan stuck to his schedule...for the most part.  He also did a project on virtues.  He was asked to cut a boat shape out of paper, then in the boat, he was to write down several virtues for which he was grateful to God.  Then, he had to glue the boat to a larger sheet of paper and draw water below it.  In the water, he was to list things or traits that he has that are unnecessary or harmful to his soul....in other words....the things that he could "throw overboard".  This was a great project for helping him to visualize getting rid of those bad habits.  I asked his permission to take a picture of his project....but he didn't want to.  I don't blame him.  He also managed to do some map skills and read some great stories about King David.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...This week was Catholic Schools Week and our relationship to our parish school has remained a close one even though we aren't there on a daily basis anymore.  Each year during this week, the school sponsors a Used Book Sale!  We stopped by the sale and picked up some good books and a couple of videos all for $4.50!  We also dropped off all the Labels for Education we had been saving and some old uniforms that we don't need anymore.  We also were able to prepare and deliver a meal for a parishioner who is ill and dealing with cancer treatment.  The kids made cards for Mrs. H.   Another great thing was that I was able to meet one of Dan's cousins Thursday night  What a wonderful lady she is! And last...but NOT least, we were also able to make a trip to the post office to mail off a package to my swap buddy!

My favorite thing this week was...watching and listening as the kids were making the get well cards for Mrs. H.  My kids have a way of turning absolutely everything into a competition!  Do your kids do that?  Anyway, they had a very heated discussion about which card was going to make Mrs. H. feel better!  I heard things like this, "I'm going to make my flower BIGGER than YOURS!"  They crack me up!

What's working/not working for us....I'm still researching curriculum for next year.  I've pretty much decided on using Teaching Textbooks for Nathan's math.  I will also add some Seton as I've heard from a very good source that their readers are excellent.  I will definitely keep some CHC.  It's so hard to homeschool only part time.  This is the part that is NOT working very well.  Because of this, there is very little consistency in their school time.  It's very structured on Mondays and Tuesdays when we do school...but then the rest of the week they have a lot of idle time that is not very conducive to a good learning environment.  I'm going to begin a Novena to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  Our family needs to have clarity about hour homeschool situation.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...I spent quite some time on the phone this past week with a very dear friend and homeschooling mom!  She is always so willing to share her experiences and ideas with me!  Her encouragement and support have been invaluable!  She's had a bout with the flu since we spoke the other night.  Please pray for her speedy recovery...she has students that need her!

A photo to share...I'm sharing two today...

Prayer before Nathan's basketball game!

Happy 7th Birthday, Amelia!!

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