Friday, March 23, 2012

The Homeschool Mother's Journal :: Home Repair Edition ~ 3/23/2012

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life/homeschool this week…this week was home repair central.  On Tuesday we woke up to no hot water and had to have our hot water heater replaced.  Thankfully we are able to have it taken care of the same day, one cold shower was enough!  Wednesday was a trip to the dentist and Thursday and Friday we had some work done in our kitchen.  I’ll share some before and after pictures of our kitchen next week. 
In our homeschool this week…believe it or not, we still managed to complete all of our regular school work, even with all of the above interruptions.  
Whenever we have a repair/service person at our house during the day, of course we always get the question "do your kids have the day off of school?".  One time, after cleaning our carpets, a guy actually asked me if I've ever "let the kids go to school to see if they liked it?"  Umm, no.  I asked you here to clean my carpet, not for educational advice!  I really had to bit my tongue and just smile at that one.  Yesterday when the kitchen guy found out we were homeschoolers and that the kids had gotten their work done early because he was coming he responded "now that's the way to do things!".  Him, I liked!

Have you ever had an "interesting" encounter like that?
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…be flexible!  Sometimes I need to take my own advice.
My favorite thing this week was…Jonah came in second place at his Pinewood Derby last Saturday.  He was so excited and had such a good time.  


Questions/thoughts I have… wondering if All About Reading might work for special needs learners?  See below
Things I’m working on…trading out flannel sheets for cotton on the beds.  We have been having such unbelievably warm weather here in the midwest, I don’t think I’ve ever done this before Easter.
Thinking about curriculum for next year.  I’m pretty sure I have the older kids squared away, so I’m thinking more about the younger kids.  In theory I could be teaching 3 children to read and I’m researching the best way to make that happen.  In the past I have used 100 Easy Lessons, it’s a simple program that works very well.  I have some unique learners in the next group and I’m not sure it will work as well for some of our special needs.
I’m reading…What’s Eating Your Child - this book has some great information in it, I’m finding it very informative.
I’m cooking…we made some fun and easy birthday treats this week for Jacob & Sarah to share with their Tae Kwon Do classmates.  I'll share what we did next week.
I’m grateful for…hot water!
Have a great weekend!

8 comments:

Jenni Ryan said...

I bet you are grateful for hot water! Cold showers are definitely not on my favorite things to do list. LOL I am considering curriculum for next year too. This past year was Kindergarten so we just kind of were winging it and having fun. I fully need to take your advice more myself!! Flexibility is a must when you're homeschooling. I have learned that time and time again this year :)

Mary said...

Congrats to your Bear Scout! Pinewood Derby is one of our favorite events :)

Jessy said...

What a crazy week you had! Are you exhausted? LOL

100 Easy Lessons has helped my youngest (with SPD), but we've stopped at Lesson 70 to just READ instead. Practice, practice, practice! And he's really enjoying www.readingeggs.com. The kids can take a placement test there and start interactive phonics and sight word games, earning eggs, and progress reports. We're doing a free trial right now.

Oh, and about the repairman encounter: I always try to view their questions as ones of general curiousities rather than affronts. It's not always easy, but perhaps he was just curious if you had considered sending them to school? It's a question I get a lot (after "socialization" and "how do you do it?") from many different kinds of people.

Cute scout there! Congratulations!

Jennifer Y said...

Everybody's got an opinion haven't they? Lol... our questions usually come at the grocery store or studying away from home somewhere, like Panera's. Mostly the comments have been very positive. There was one older man in the grocery store one time who made kind of a smart response to our homeschooling. I just smiled and turned around. What else can you do?

Julie @HSbalancing act said...

Congrats on the successful Pine Wood Derby. Ours is a few weeks away.

Jill said...

Sounds like you had a good week, can't wait to see what you decided to do in the kitchen!
We get mixed comments about homeschooling, from the "they should be in school" crowd to the "good for you, times have certainly changed" side.

Funniest comment from a carpet guy was not about homeschooling, he thought Ben was a dwarf! It was so hilarious it's become a family joke!

Stefanie Matthews Smith said...

I love curriculum planning time. I don't really have anything much to plan for next year though. =o( Or buy really. I guess that's a good thing but I really look forward to large boxes of books arriving at my door. lol

Tifflynene said...

Congrats on your Pinewood Derby win! We missed ours this year:( Sounds like a busy week but a lot accomplished. We still have our flannel sheets on in California...it's actually been Brrrrr, cold! Keeping you in thought and prayer as you make your Consecration. Ave Maria!

Related Posts with Thumbnails