First Days Back

First week back went really well, Mr. Monkey enjoyed learning in jammies while the Little Miss had fun getting dolled up for her for day of S/K.

Working on his Celtic War Axe template

Some map work charting the travel of the Angles and the Saxons

All ready to start the new year!

Playing with dad before she goes in

Comparing dresses with her good friend from school!

Initial Thoughts: Excellence in Writing

So I've been going through this curriculum package from Excellence in Writing these past few days, and have to say thus far I'm liking it. When I got the package initially I looked at it and thought, 'YIKES!'. It is a big package, lots of materials, DVD's and just looking at it made my head ache LOL With the full out start to our school year starting I threw out the negative thoughts about the information (and volume of it) and dove in.

With this program came a DVD for myself, it covers the ideas behind the program, a step through of the lessons and ways to approach a variety of learners, and valuable examples to pull from. The instructor, Mr. Pudewa, is very enthusiastic about this approach and is very easy to follow and understand. There is also a DVD for Mr. Monkey to watch and learn from as well. It provides info to work from but you are definitely not restricted to that.

I found this package while browsing around in the Learning Abled Kids website. Many parents recommended this for their children who have little patience or desire to write. My son has poor fine motor skills and finds the written word very challenging. I wanted a program that would give him a defined structure so that he could, with practice, be able to write well in adulthood.

I am really looking forward to this program and will update with more info as we delve into it over the months ahead!

Our Schedule is Set!

So I've been trying to get a handle on the amount of things I need to get ready for this school term and felt a little overwhelmed. I kept trying to figure out how I was going to prep 5 subjects (at least) and still have time at night for myself. So I started venting to my husband and we came up with a plan that 'sounds' better and still allows me to cover what I need to.

So keeping in mind 2 important aspects, Mr. Monkey's education and my own personal time, we decided we would do math and language daily. We would then do one of the other subjects (Science, History and Geography) for one solid week and alternate them each week. I was just looking at all that I had to do to prep them all so we covered them ALL weekly that I was feeling bogged down already. BUT now that I can throughly prepare for one a week I think I can do a better job of delving into our learning and be prepared with time to spare for myself.

I'm hoping to great success with this schedule as it sounds like we both get what is needed! I'm very grateful to have this type of flexibility as a homeschooling parent...if it doesn't work try something else!

August Highlights

Just a few highlights of the month of August! It has been one fantastic summer :) Alayna also decided this would be the summer to learn to ride her 2 wheeler, no more training wheels here LOL Some pictures below of that too!

My hibiscus this year!! I love this plant LOL

She's on her way :)

Weee!!!


Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Week One :)

We finished our first week back and things went well :)

Jacob completed his first week in Math-U-See and started his tutoring once again. Both activities are well underway and he has slid back into things quite well!

We won't be starting our full curriculum until September but I wanted to have started something prior to that so we wouldn't have such a jolt to the system. So far so good!!

I also wanted to share this picture as the event made me realize just how much he has grown, I felt a little teary eyed watching him. Being a parent is fantastical :)

Helping Grampa with the yard :)

Algonquin Park

We just finished our last big outing of the summer, Algonquin Park. Thanks to our friend Tracy (who provided us with some great info about where to stay and things to see), we had a wonderful time at Kearney Lake! Much like Tracy said it was a well kept, low key spot that provided enough privacy to feel like you were really 'camping'!. We've only done KOA's up to this point and we will most likely not go back after our recent trip.

We had many highlights but I think overall we loved being outdoors, the children were so relaxed! I couldn't get over how 'zen' they were, and totally not needing to be entertained. The moose on our first day was exciting for us all and the trails in the area were outstanding!

Either way here are a few pictures from our trip:

Our home away from home

Mr. Monkey at the lake

The Moose

The view from our site...ahhhh :)

The children's reason for camping...marshmallows!

Beaver Pond Trail, our first trail of the trip

Beaver Lodge

Myself and my girl :)

The kiddos and dad

An extremely friendly chipmunk...we did not feed him but he most certainly was checking us out to be sure LOL

The view from up top!

No fish were harmed (or caught) during our stay LOL

Proudly posing with his first fire built by himself...

Our last trail of our stay, Wiskey Rapids, they kiddos really liked it here!

A most excellent family adventure :)

Getting underway!

We are on our last week of summer break and will start our homeschooling year next week. I have to say I'm feeling mixed emotions about getting started again. I'm happy to get back to our routine and feeling more peaceful about things this year (having a year under my belt now).

I would say though I'm having a hard time switching gears and am not feeling as invigorated as I had hoped after summer break. I feeling a little mentally sluggish, not quite commited to the cause just yet...Not sure if it was those weeks of the children attending camp and the peacefulness of 'me' time that's causing the lack of umph.

Either way I'm hoping I'm not the only homeschooling parent out there who faces the new school year with an ounce of good and an ounce of UGH LOL I'm sure once we return to the routine things will work themselves out.

In the meantime I'll continue prepping things and enjoy our last hurrah of the summer at Algonquin Park.

Stay tuned....