Wendy

God is good!

I have been very stressed about money lately. We have the monthly income for the absolute necessities: rent, power, Internet (most of Kalie's curriculum is found free on line), cell phone (we do not have a home phone), car insurance, food. Anything extra is always unknown. We try to do free or cheap things as much as possible. With the prices of gas lately our "socialization" has decreased. I have passed on many wonderful free or cheap field trips because I couldn't justify the gas expense.

I had been a nanny for the most precious little girl (Carlee) for 2 years and then last August she went to preschool (daycare). It was nice having just Kalie, but the loss of income took away all of our "mad" money. I have been praying for another child to watch for a few months. I told everyone I knew to keep their ears open for opportunities. I posted an offer on our church email loop.

Nothing for weeks.... then Susanna email me. YEA! She needed someone to watch her 8 year old daughter 3 days a week this summer. We go to church together, Wendy and Kalie are in the same class for children's worship. So now we have some mad money to play with for the summer. Which means we can go to all or most of the free activities for the summer library reading program, we can attend a few free or low cost field trips that are a little further from home and we can visit different parks in the county.

Wendy and Kalie.



Kalie is excited to have someone her age to play with.



Another great perk ... Wendy use to be homeschooled. So her mother is thrilled that we will be doing many educational things this summer. Susanna had wanted to use Story of the World with her kids and try a classical approach with education, but she had to return to work. So she is very happy that Wendy will be getting the experience this summer.

So I am homeschooling 2 this summer. Which I am finding almost easier than just 1. They can play games together and Kalie tries to hurry so they will have free time to play. I save the boring stuff for when Wendy is not here. I pray that this works out!

The Greenville Zoo

Our entire family went to the Greenville Zoo today! It was so fun! We also went with our extended "church" family. Meridith came, with two borrowed children. (LOL!) She was babysitting Anna Catherine and Colin Beachy (our asst. Pastor's 2 oldest children). Melissa was there with Josiah, Caleb and Carissa. Katie, Kasie, Kalie and I were there. Someone asked us if we were from a daycare, Kalie said "No, this is our family!" In her almost rude sarcastic way. Mer said we should of had matching shirts. LOL!

Colin, Kalie, Josiah, Anna Catherine & Caleb.

Kalie, Josiah, Katie & Caleb.



Kalie & I.



Katie & Caleb (her buddy).



Kasie & Colin.





Kasie planned this excursion (she loves the Zoo). When we were leaving Kasie said, "What should we do next Tuesday?" I said I don't know, what are you planning? LOL!

Our School Day!

Ok! How can I count this as school?

Now that the big girls are home, it has been harder and harder to get Kalie to focus. I think our summer vacation might be the month of May and August while the sisters are home. We will have to do school during June and July while they are both working at camp.

Math Fun!

Some days it just works out that we do one subject for the entire day, usually it is Reading, Science or Social Studies. Today was Math Day! We read many living books of various math related ideas, watched a math movie, played dice addition, domino addition, measured things, worked on estimating and created an addition lapbook.

Kalie creating. She is very particular about how she wants things to be. (Yes, my dining room table almost always looks like this. LOL!)



The cover. The fun foam numbers are left over from teaching preschool (years ago). The numbers 6 and 10 are white and they would not show up when I took the pictures. She drew faces on all of the numbers. Next to each number are small round stickers equal to their value.



One set of the flash cards that are tucked into each pocket.



Each pocket has dots equal to their number.



Most of the day was spent working on this lapbook and playing with the flash cards. We probably have 6 or 7 sets of addition flash cards, yet we continue to create more. Some of them are on rings. We have dry erase ones. At least 3 sets are in lapbooks. We have some in ziploc bags. Kalie likes a variety. LOL!

In about 2 years I will have wonderful resources for someone just starting to homeschool. LOL!

Today was a great day!

Our Yard ~ Phase 1

Phase 1 of the "Big Beautiful Back Yard" has begun.
(I am working on some of the front yard, too.)

First Step ~ Wal-Mart for the beginning of purchases (ouch!). We bought:

1. 4 trays to start our seeds @ $4 ea.
2. a hose @ $6
3. a hose hanger @ $2
4. 2 bags of organic flower/vegtable potting soil @ $2.50 ea.
5. 2 bags of grass fertlizer/starter @ $3.75 ea.
6. 12 pkgs. of seeds @ average of $1 ea.
7. 3 pots to make a strawberry container/tower @ $6
8. 6 large pkgs. of sunflower seeds @ $1.50 ea.

Total $63.50

My first job was to mow the lawn. The lawn mower is not working, I will have to take it to be repaired tomorrow. So I weed wacked around the front poarch. We found this bush that was blooming. It is small but maybe it will grow bigger. Our new hose is peeking out from behind. Where this bush is we do not want grass, we want to put flowers there. I wish I could move this lush grass to the bare spots in the front yard.

I raked and watered the large bare spot in the front yard. Kalie and I sprinkled the grass fertlizer/starter all over. We will add grass seed in a few days.



One of the neighbors moved out and left this pool in their side yard. The landlord said we could have it. It has a small crack so the water leaks out slowly, but Kalie had a wonderful time in it today and it was free. I might buy her the colored sand she wants from wal-mart and use it as a sand box for her and try to get her a larger pool for swiming. (That's Izabel in the corner, we call her puppy-wuppy.)

Kalie planting all of her seeds. She is loving this. We planted a tray of green beans (climbers), some corn, yellow squash, zucchini squash, watermellon, marigolds, black eyed susans, morning glories, cantalopes, johnny jump ups, daisies and onions.



Our "baby seeds" in their bedroom for the night. LOL! Kalie read them a story and told them all good night. During the day we will set them in the sun.

Next Step ~ Lowes & Farmers Market (next weekend)

We need to buy wood to build the garden boxes and pvc to build the green bean tunnel.

We are going to buy the tomato and strawberry plants from the farmers market at their annual sale May 2-4.

Where have we been?

Wow! It has been a month since I posted. So much has gone on … but mainly we were sick. I will try to recap most of what has happened in our life.

Health ~ Kalie’s allergies are acting up, but that is too expected with the time of year. Kasie caught a “cold” and brought it home to us. I guess because I have been under so much stress lately my immune system is decrease because it turned into walking pneumonia for me. I was pretty much useless for almost 3 weeks. So Kalie has had a very light spring schedule. LOL! We are better now and things are picking up for us. I told Kasie the next time she is sick, she needs to stay at North Greenville. I DO NOT want any more of their germs. I have been sick 4 times since she went to that school. Kalie keeps telling her that she needs to "do college online at home" so we won't be sick.

Girl Scouts ~ Our cookie sale ended with about $350 in profit for the troop. I think that is good since we only have 7 girls. Two weeks ago we had a new girl join the troop, Celeste. She is a friend of Lauren. So we are now up to 5 brownies and 3 juniors. Our service unit is hosting their annual encampment at Camp Wabak on April 18-20. We are so excited! I had a lot of down time when I was sick so I was able to plan lots of stuff. Our end of the year hurrah/cookie sale celebration will be at Build-A-Bear on May 31st. Our awards ceremony will be June 2nd. Our summer plans are almost finished with a meeting every 3 weeks and a field trip or activity once a month.

Izabel ~ She is one wild and crazy dog. We love her to death but she is worse than the cats or the girls. The pets wake me up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning to be let out. YUCK! I usually am up for the rest of the day after that. We had been letting her sleep with us but she was not very good. She would want to play at about 3:00 am. So now she sleeps in the crate at night. I checked into the AKC. We are going to register her with the AKC but I do not think we will show her. It seemed to me that the “clubs” in our area were a little too high strung for us.

School ~ Kalie has “learned to read”. Yea! A few weeks ago she read her first chapter book all by herself, Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. She is now reading everything she can, mostly out loud. LOL! So things are changing around here. I am able to give her a little more independent work. When I was sick I had lots of time to veg out, watch TV and read. During that time I was also able to “research” and make decisions for the next school year. We school year round so our new year will begin June 1st. So … I think we will be a little more structured with things and will be adding in new subjects. I am going to try to “hold her back” and keep her in the 2nd grade range. I have thought about this for most of the year and I just do not think it will be a good idea for her to go to college 2 weeks after she turns 18, which is what will happen if she goes to 3rd grade now. I think I might phase in the new stuff one at a time to help with the transitions. We will notebook and lapbook most of our subjects. My plan is:
· Bible - Calvary Chapel (free online) to create our Bible Notebook (this is what we do now and it is working)
· History and Geography - Story of the World 1
· Science - Apologia (deciding between Zoo 1and Astronomy)
· Reading and Language Arts – Learning Language Arts Through Literature (trying to decide on which level to start her in)
· Math - ????? We did a textbook and that did not work well. We tried RightStart but I had the wrong level (too easy) and she hated it, I don’t think she will try the next level. I don’t know if we can afford Math U See, so… any suggestions? We have been playing Math games and using real life math for about 6 weeks now but I know we need something more.
· Art – Next year (September) we will take art lessons from Samantha Bell again. She is wonderful and Kalie loves it! (Not sure what day next year.)
· PE – I hope to be more disciplined and get her to homeschool PE every week. (They meet Mon and Thru, but we usually do Mon.)
· Music – I would love to get her piano lessons, but we would need to get a piano or keyboard so she can practice.
· Girl Scouts – We will continue on Mondays.

WOW! Now that it is all written out it seems like a lot. I am overwhelmed. LOL!

Church ~ We have not been to church in over a month because we have been sick. I am so looking forward to it this weekend! Hopefully we will be able to go to community group also, but that will depend on the older girls work schedule.

Katie and Kasie ~ They are to be finished with exams and will be moving back home April 30th. So, please pray that the transition will go smoothly. Kasie will be working at Girl Scout camp again this summer. She is very excited! Katie is trying to get a job as an overnight resident counselor at Camp Spearhead (special education camp) or the recreation center (day camp).

Well I think that is it. I hope you have enjoyed this recap. LOL!

Am I CRAZY? Chickens in our house?

Okay so let me tell you first off that I am not this huge animal lover. I like them, but do not want to have a zoo. LOL! Three cats, a dog, and a part time fish (it lives in the dorm with Kasie most of the time) are plenty enough for me! Actually they are too much for me. Well … I do not always have the deciding vote in our house. I run a democracy; sometimes I wish it was not. LOL!

While we are at Art class today (Kasie joined us) we played with Ms. Samantha’s chickens again. Ms. Samantha lives in the real country; not the have a big yard with no trees to climb and still have neighbors country like we do (Kalie’s words). Ms. Samantha has a wonderful husband who supports her crazy, eclectic, creative homeschooling adventure. They have a dog, five cats (two who will be having kittens soon), two guinea pigs, two birds, 3 roosters and many chickens! So … while we are there Kasie is talking to Ms. Samantha about her chickens and how cool it is to have chickens just walking around your yard. Somehow (I do not know because I missed the beginning of the conversation) Kasie discovered that you could get baby chicks at the local Feed and Seed for under $5 each. So, guess what Kalie is going to get for Easter. How crazy is this? Ms. Samantha said that when the chick was too old to keep in the house we could add it to her “flock”.

Our homeschool adventure is becoming more and more unschooled. I need help!

Thursday ~ Plans

My plan today is (If I ever stop blogging!) to work on finishing some projects and lapbooks. Kalie likes to have "many" projects going at once. I need to have some of them finished! We did a loot of "school work" yesterday, so today can be devoted to more fun stuff. It is a delicate balance in our house. LOL!

One thing we are working on is a bookcase type of display, of the books she has read. She hates writing a reading log. So I thought why not create a "bulletin board" type display (the pre-school teacher in me coming out)? So … we created a construction paper bookshelf. Every time she reads a book she adds it to the wall. It helps with her handwriting (she hates to physically write anything) and is a visual display/reward for her.

We also need to work on her: Books of the Bible Lapbook, Counting Lapbook (that she is going to give to Scott), Artist Notebook, State Notebook, St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook, Animal Notebook, and too many other things to list. LOL!

Off to "work" … more later!

Homeschool Update

Now that I am “doing school” differently, things are much better! I have planned 180 (our state required number of school days) lessons in Math, Reading and Writing and 90 lessons in Science and Social Studies. I planned the lessons, wrote them into a new plan book (that I created) with lesson numbers not dates. When a lesson is finished I highlight the lesson number to know it is done. I do not worry about when things are done, just that they get done. So if the day is a good math day, we might get 3 to 6 math lessons done. I am keeping a journal (well I am trying to) of everything that we do that might be educational. It includes everything that is and is not required by our state. It includes Art, Bible, Music, PE, and the extra Math, Reading, Science and Social Studies that we do. I do not feel as pressured to have her “complete” what is planned. It is difficult for me because I am a more “Type A” person who loves checklists. I would love to do Abeka DVD, the textbooks and workbooks are definitely my style. Kalie is not like me at all. LOL! She is definitely a hands on, projects, let’s explore and get messy, learn by doing type of kid. It is definitely an adventure. LOL!

We are spending less time with prepared curriculum and more with an eclectic approach. It is a lot more fun for her but A LOT more work for me. I know that next year we will still do the required subjects. I am just not sure if or how it will be purchased, as we have almost abandoned our purchased stuff this year. I have lots of thinking, praying and researching to do. Wish me luck!