For a whole week!  That'd be the direct result of me actually trying to keep us on track with the routine I've set up for our school days!   Mondays are our gymnastics/art class days... every other Friday (this friday) are our extra curricular days with our DE group.  That leaves basically 3-4 days, depending on the week, for actual 'schoolwork'.    So we get busy on those days!  And often at the end of the day the LAST thing I want to think about is the day just finished lol.  

Today for example, (we're getting a late start as I slept in a bit ;) we're doing Math U See (both kids), Headsprout (Sam), Reading comprehension (Frodo), some reading on Ancient China AND starting our China history pocket, as well as putting together a Planets 'tab' book from Enchanted Learning.   Unfortunately it's on the members pages, so I can't link IT specifically.  But seriously, I can't say enough about EL... I find the best worksheets & such to supplement whatever we're studying on that site!   So it should be a fun, busy, day.  Oh and there will invariably be at least one snack and one lunch break... else Frodo may waste away to nothing ;)

I posted a while back about Homeschool Skedtrack, and while it was a cool program with lots of neat features... I guess I'm a pen and paper kinda girl ;)  I need to be able to see a week at a glance and KNOW what is on the plans for each day in that week.  I have swiped a nice, basic grid form from This site and am test driving it this week.  I've had to cross out /substitute some 'subject' headings but that's not a problem.  It's a 2page weekly spread with good sized blocks for being able to fit 'assignments' for both kids in there ... as long as I don't get TOO wordy!   So far I like it, I like having more space than typical 1page weekly planners give as well as being able to see it ALL at once.

In other news.. someone please turn off the faucet in the sky... at least for a little while?   I have fungi popping up all over my yard... so if I cease posting, I've probably wandered into a faerie ring  and been carried away for a nice long holiday with the fae  LOL.

Today was our first FULL day of schoolwork for the year.  On the plan for Sam was Headsprout, Math U See, and handwriting practice in his new workbook (which he loved... something about a shiny new book I guess hehe) Frodo had Math U see, handwriting (learning cursive), grammar, science reading and spelling.  

It turns out Frodo has zero handwriting stamina.. his handwriting took him a little longer than it really needed to and he kept stretching his hand out.  I noticed the reason why later.. the child has a veritable death grip on his pencil!  If I held mine like that it wouldn't take long for my hand to collapse into a screaming cramp either.  SO, for now we are going to have to put spelling on the back burner (at least written spelling, we can still work on it other ways)  I'll also spend a lot of time working with him on a better, more relaxed grip so that in a month or so he might have worked up the ability to write for a reasonable amount of time.  For now we'll just have Grammar Once a Week , handwriting workbook to learn the entries & exits of cursive, and Catching onto Comprehension B which will account for most of his writing.  (science & History Odyssey have a bit, but not nearly this much).  

There was also a crucial scheduling mistake by moi... the Magic School Bus book we were going to start our science year with is NOT the one I thought I had!  Nor is it one our library has *sigh* So the one unit of science I've completely written up?  Is not the one we're going to end up starting with LOL.  So, I best get off my rear and get the Earth unit written up so we can start that at least.. since I actually POSSESS the book ;)   Kind of a bummer though, I was so looking forward to sticking my many xrays (including ultrasounds of the kids in utero, hand, chest and hip xrays!)  to the sliding glass doors.  I'm sure the neighbors will think I'm insane *gryn*  

Other than the handwriting woes (although his writing WAS very tidy) and the book that isn't.. the day went very, very well :D

Well we've had our first official few days of home schooling for the year and we're well & truly in the swing of things now.   We prefer to sort of ease into things rather than suddenly have a WHOLE DAY of stuff to do, so last week we started Wednesday with a bit of Math U See for both boys, some History Odyssey reading, Headsprout for Sam and a little grammar review for Frodo.   They were both pretty happy to have their usual work to do after a long break.

On the weekend I hit Brodies, which is an educational bookshop, and spent a good hour geeking around at all the neat books, learning games, posters and all those cute bulletin board thingies that teachers use in classrooms.  Not that I have a classroom.. or a real bulletin board... but I always loved those :)  I picked up all but one of our needed resources, and the other will be arriving from another store for me to pick up in a day or two.  So this week we'll add reading comprehension, grammar, and handwriting practice and science back into the mix.

Today we had a full on day, as it was day 1 of the kids' gymnastics & art classes with a local home ed network.    I'm having a bit of an insomnia thing at the moment, so it was a struggle to get everyone together & out the door.  I soldiered on though, and the boys all had such a great time!  Merry had kindy and bolted to the home corner the second we arrived, he always gets angry when I leave if he is outside... but if he can hit the home corner he's a happy chappy :)  Frodo & Sam  had a great time playing at the play area where the classes were held, along with all the other kids.  So much for unsocialized homeschoolers ;)  The gymnastics teacher was so great with the kids, and said the kids do much better when parents go off & have a cuppa or something, although we are welcome to have a seat & watch the class....helping ends up not being much help apparently LOL.   

 Here's Frodo one one of the 4 balance beams tip toeing across :) This is about the only pic that came out, as the gym is HUGE and there isn't much close enough for the flash to bounce off of, so my photos all came out a bit dark... I've got at least 7 more lessons to get it right though ;)  There was tumbling, different swinging movements on the uneven bars, and Sams' favourite... trampolining!

 Here's Sam with his work of art... today was all about colour & how blending the 3 primary colours produces secondary colours.  Sam's favourite colour ever is orange, so he was all about making some of that lol.   He was such a trooper too.. normallly he makes a few swipes on a paper and is done, but he was with the teacher right up until nearly the end of class!  Kudos little dude!

 Frodo was also awesome in his class.  He was in with the senior art group (ages 7 and up I think it was) and I was in & out making sure Sam was cool doing what he was doing (and not freaking out because I wasn't around.. which he wasn't!) but Frodo was fully paying attention while I was away according to one of the other mums.   He made a gorgeous sunset scene with a city skyline that he's very proud of.  Their class was also about blending colours but with an eye towards creating a landscape type image.   Note the very stylish 'mums stained shirt turned backwards' paint smock there? lol  That's what my decluttering gets me.. I had to raid clothing that I actually WEAR to use, because I either tossed, cut up for rags, or donated all excess tshirts.  This one shirt had a freaky greasy shadow from cooking so it was the perfect candidate.  I bet by the end of the year it will be a work of art itself!

We headed home from class around 1pm, and would you believe BOTH boys were crashed out in the back seat within 15minutes on the road!? lol  It's about a 45minute drive (but very worth it!) so after all that working out in gymnastics, I guess they were worn out.  Made for an unusually quiet drive though ;)