August 09, 2011

I Love Homeschooling: The School Year and a Slide Show

#Homeschool distractions. Oy.

Our 2011-2012 school year began without a bang yesterday. You see, we school year round, so we had only taken 2 weeks off ... and are just picking up on the path we were already trodding down a while back. No fanfare. No horse and pony show.

We still had a couple of distractions to deal with... which refused to nap. #gofigure

I kind of miss those elementary days when we had back to school breakfasts and goals days. I think we'll probably take one this week - just for old time's sake. We're also finding that we are in need of a few school supplies to get organized in our new space (moved to the dining room again now that the book cases are almost installed)... so I foresee a trip to Walmart for binders and mechanical pencils in the near future.

Our big thing yesterday was history review. I'm using Mystery of History, Tapestry of Grace, Story of the World, and a slew of other books and curriculums to make our way through ancients (still). Funny that art and history are my favorite subjects and I seem to tackle school like I do my plate at the dinner table : get all the unsavory stuff done first and THEN "dessert" or the favorite dish. That didn't work last year. History and art were shuffled aside (well, at least history - since both of my big kids draw like they breathe - on everything, including math scratch sheets).

I can't wait to show you the after photo of the dining room... when we finish painting and installing the shelves. Yesterday they brought in the middle piece and the counter for it... and screwed the cabinets together and to the walls. It may take another week or so, until the entire job is finished and the school and cookbooks can be moved to their new homes. The amount of time this new set-up will be saving mama is going to help our year ROCK! Already we noticed a big difference yesterday as little kids were able to play in the living room divided by the dining room half wall -- and still be SEEN and HEARD, even though the TV wasn't a distraction to my teens. Yay!!! It helps to be closer to the kitchen downstairs, too -- because teenagers need snacks and drinks to stay focused on tedium.

As for mama, I have some goals for this school year, too. One of them is to lose between 15 and 20 lbs by the end of October. I started the 17 Day Diet today (my husband started yesterday). We cleaned out our local grocery store's produce section last night (the poor checker was on her 2nd week of her first job and I gave her a real hard time at the register figuring out what all that strange organic stuff was). Eggplants may not be a really popular dish, I take it? The 17 Day Diet looks pretty good. I have a friend who has lost 22 lbs. on it in nearly 2 months... so I'm optimistic - and know that even a few pounds will be worth it.  

You wanna go on it with me? [If so, let me know. I'll start a Facebook Group and we can do it together.]

I have to get going and get back to my amazingly long list, the menu, the bills, the school schedule for today, and my never-ending laundry pile. Here's to 2011-2012... may this school year be the best ever!

Enjoy this little slideshow of some of Jennifer's and my photos from the THSC Convention:



I love homeschoolers!

8 comments:

Sherry said...

I wish I could have made it to THSC. It looks wonderful. Maybe next year.

char said...

I love Tim Hawkins. When my kids have computer time Youtube is where they hang out. They know all his "songs" :) I also saw your Hank the Cowdog picture. I grew up in the town John Erickson is from and he use to come to the schools and read us Hank books before he ever got them published. He was at our convention this year and he is just as awesome as I remember! :)

Ann Voskamp @Holy Experience said...

I just waned to whisper -- I love your heart --- and I'm cheering you on!

Kristal said...

What is the 17 day diet... must google that one. I want to lose 20lbs by Thanksgiving. I am a lifetime Weight Watcher, but they changed the program and I don't like it....

Stacy @ A Delightful Home said...

Those new shelves sound awesome! A good set up makes such a difference. I've been trying to figure out how to change things around here too.
Looking forward to seeing your after pictures of the dining room!

I've never heard of the 17 Day Diet. Now I'm intrigued. Am checking it out on amazon and thinking about giving it a try.

Anonymous said...

Just dropping by to catch-up! :) The kids and I just returned from a two-week visit with family and friends in Texas. Oh. My. Word. Stay cool, my friend. Stay cool!
~K

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, just googled the 17 day diet and I just might join you. I have been looking for an eating routine that fits in with my already healthy diet but isn't a fad. Let me know if you set up a Facebook page.

Krystal
bandkgriff at yahoo dot com

Nicky said...

Small world. I was looking for History timeline ideas. I was really captured by the the timeline in a box. I look over to the right,and low and behold you have a link to my friend Dana's site.

 

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